The Teachers and Graduates Constituency elections recently undertaken for five seats in Maharashtra used a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system instead of the usual First Past The Post (FPTP) system used in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

Graduates’ and Teachers’ elections are special elections held in states like Maharashtra having bicameral legislatures. One-twelfth of the total members of the Legislative Council in these states are supposed to be elected by graduates and another one-twelfth are supposed to be elected by teachers. Only people who are graduates/teachers and ordinary residents in the specified constituency are eligible to vote in these elections.

How are normal elections conducted in India?

In the FPTP system used for Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly elections, a voter can cast her vote for a single candidate. During counting, all votes are counted, and the candidate with the highest number of votes wins the election.…