Once the electorate start to actually engage with it, its a much better way of getting a result that matches what people actually want and avoids parties winning simply because of split votes.firstly, I’m coming from a layman’s perspective - because I don’t have to spend time and effort researching voting systems. I know you will use that as a criticism against me - but i very much believe you can and should have a discussion without the need to be 100% read into the scenario.
These are musings rather than pro’s and con’s - as I’ve tried to be clear, I’m not wedded to any system.
one of my key issues is having different voting systems, it’s confusing to the electorate and obviously if FPTP or SV or any other system was preferred then why do we have a mixture?
how valid are second choice votes? Are they more likely to go to candidates that just have name recognition, or for a ‘joke’ vote? Aside from the candidate you vote for, and usually the direct rival - does the voter actually know anything about their second choice?
granted, I’m sure many voters don’t know anything about the first choice candidate they are voting for - but I’m sure you see my point.
Your point about confusing the voters is likely to be a fair one initially, but mostly just because people are so used to FPTP. It might take a little time for people to get to know the new system, but its worth the temporary cost for the long term benefit. It also allows the smaller parties a true chance to grow.