prstv

prstv.js

JavaScript implementaion of Irish-flavoured preferential voting

What's this?

PR-STV is a term used to describe the voting system in Ireland, and other countries. This project aims to implement --- as accurately as possible --- the process of counting ballot papers and determining the winner(s) of an election.

The project began after the Irish General Election of 2020, which was the first general election I voted in (or could vote in). I noticed a lot of confusion about how seats are filled during the count, how surpluses are distributed, how candidates are eliminated. I, too, was one of the confused.

I wanted to help demystify PR-STV, first of all by implementing it as code (what you're seeing here), and secondly as a website that allows you to

Use cases

• Creating an election simulator (what it's designed for)
• Conducting electronic voting with PR-STV, but generally --- please don't. It's not under the license terms, but do not use this code for evil!

Installation

npm install prstv

Current Status

This module is in its early stages! It's very much a work in progress. The implementation isn't fully correct, but it's a starting point.

Usage

const Election = require("prstv")
 
// how many seats we should fill
const seats = 2
 
// list of candidates
const candidates = ["John Doe", "Jane Doe"]
 
// ballot papers
const ballots = [
    {
        1: "Jane Doe"
    },
    {
        1: "John Doe"
    },
    {
        1: "Jane Doe",
        2: "John Doe"
    },
    {
        1: "John Doe",
        2: "Jane Doe"
    }
]
 
// feed it into a new Election object
const election = new Election(candidates, seats, ballots)
 
// create a generator to step through the count process
// from start to end
const count = election.countGenerator()
 
// event for the first step in the count process
console.log(count.next())
 
// etc...
console.log(count.next())