Multiple non-transferable vote

The multiple non-transferable vote (MNTV) is a group of voting system, in which voters elect several representatives at once, with each voter having more than one vote. MNTV uses multi-member electoral districts or only one district, which contains all voters, which is used to provide at-large representation.

MNTV systems are not designed towards obtaining proportional representation; instead the usual result is that where the candidates divide into definitive parties (especially for example where those parties have party lines which are whipped) the most popular party in the district sees its full slate of candidates elected, resulting in a landslide.

The exceptions to this are Limited Voting or Cumulative Voting, both of which are brought in on purpose to produce diverse representation—minority representation as well as representation of the largest group. But other systems have proven themselves more dependable at producing Proportional Representation than those two - party-list PR or Single Transferable Voting, for example.

MNTV systems include:

• Plurality block voting (BV), also known as "plurality at-large", where each voter has as many votes as there are seats to be filled, but can cast no more than one vote per candidate (May result in election by plurality, which may be a one-party sweep by a minority group)
• Limited voting (LV), where each voter has less votes than there are seats to be filled, but can cast no more than one per candidate (resulting in semi-proportional representation)
• Limited block approval voting, where each voter has more votes than there are seats to be filled, but can cast no more than one vote per candidate (resulting in majoritarian representation)
• Block approval voting (a type of multi-winner approval voting), where each voter may vote for any number of candidates, but cast no more than one vote per candidate (resulting in majoritarian representation)
• Cumulative voting, where voters have a multiple number of votes, and they may assign more than one vote to a candidate. Produces semi-proportional representation.

The multiple winners are usually elected simultaneously in one round of voting and the vote is non-transferable, unlike under preferential block voting. MNTV sometimes appears in a runoff (two-round) version, as in some local elections in France, where candidates who do not receive an absolute majority must compete in a second round. In these cases, it is more accurately called "majority-at-large voting".

The single non-transferable vote (SNTV) is the extreme version of limited voting, when each voter can vote for only one candidate.