The election using single transferable vote

Single transferable vote

The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 gave a majority of the 65 district seats to the MLP, despite a majority of votes going to the PN, so the PN were given four bonus seats to ensure a majority reflecting the popular vote.

Results

Summary of the May 9, 1987 House of Representatives of Malta

House of Representatives of Malta

The House of Representatives is the unicameral legislature of Malta and a component of the Parliament of Malta.The House is composed of an odd number of members elected for a five year term...

 election results
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Parties
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
|-
|align=left|Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Malta)

The Nationalist Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party. It was founded by Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as the Anti-Reform Party, opposing taxation decreed by the British colonial authorities and measures to Anglicise the educational and the...

 (Partit Nazzjonalista)
|align="right" | 119,721
|align="right" |50.9
|align="right" |35

|-
|align=left|Malta Labour Party

Malta Labour Party

The Labour Party is, along with the Nationalist Party, one of two major contemporary political parties in Malta. It is the party of opposition in the Maltese House of Representatives where it has thirty-four of the sixty-nine seats.- Party Structure :...

(Partit Laburista)
|align="right" | 114,936
|align="right" |48.9
|align="right" |34
|-
|align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 95.5 %)
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|235,168
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.0
|width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|69
|-
|align=left colspan=10|Source: http://www.maltadata.com/.
|}