Assoc Prof Janine Hayward said returning Mayor Dave Cull had "broad support by the majority".
She scotched suggestions Mr Cull lacked support because more than twice the number of voters who voted for him voted for someone else as "thinking in a first past the post (FTP) way".
On the outcome of the mayoral race, Prof Hayward said STV, as second and subsequent votes were distributed from candidates who did not have the numbers to stay in the poll, did not usually change the outcome of a mayoral election.
"When you’re filling just one seat that’s not where STV works."
It was not surprising the candidate who started with the most votes — Mr Cull began with 10,746 compared with second-placed Cr Lee Vandervis on 6983 on the first iteration — ended up being the one elected.
"But the point is it’s a safeguard.
"It’s a way of checking that the person who was the most popular in the first iteration actually also enjoys broad support by the majority," she said.
"That’s what this outcome shows."
Mr Cull ended up with 17,229, Cr Vandervis 11,806, and the third-placed candidate Barry Timmings 9308.
Prof Hayward said if it was possible to get the 40,176 people who voted in the election together to ask them who would support Dave Cull’s election, he would have "a majority".
Cr Vandervis on the night of the election results told the Otago Daily Times more than twice as many people voted for someone other than Mr Cull.
But Prof Hayward said under STV more than 50% had said "if my vote isn’t needed for that person, then this is who I would prefer next."
"So Lee Vandervis, when he says things like that, is still thinking in a first-past-the-post way.
"STV doesn’t work that way.
"It’s a fair and effective way of ensuring the candidate has majority support.
"Dave Cull did, and Lee Vandervis didn’t."
Of the councillors elected, Prof Hayward said people could be confident that, contrary to what could happen under FTP, "this council reflects what the vast majority of voters who engaged in the election want".
"What we see on council is what the voters feel like at the moment.
"That’s democracy."
When the councillors talked about issues and made decisions in the next three years, "those decisions will be robust in the sense the broad views held in Dunedin are going to be reflected in council debates".
"Surely that’s a good thing, whether or not you agree with what’s being said."