The Alternative Vote Explained

With recent talk of strategic voting in Alberta to defeat the impending, inevitable win by one of the province’s far-right parties, and Jean Chretien’s suggestion on a federal level that the NDP and Liberals merge, it seems apt to bring up the alternative vote.
The first-past-the-post system inevitably leads, in the long run, to a two-party system. The alternative vote could help encourage smaller parties, and allow a broader spectrum of opinion in the political scene.