Jeff O'Neill today announced the release of OpenSTV 1.1. OpenSTV is one of a handful of neat freeware items that will tabulate IRV and choice voting elections. (Another of that handful is actually the software on the voting machines in Cambridge, MA.)

Simply enter the information from each ballot, and the software does the rest.

One nifty thing about OpenSTV is its support for multiple counting rules. While the basics of choice voting are common across jurisdictions, there are some small variations, particularly regarding manners of transferring surplus and dealing with ties. v1.1 adds support for:

• choice voting rules debuting in Scotland later this spring
• the rules used in the California Green Party
• and approval voting

You can download the program free from stv.sourceforge.net.