[Angua]

Originally Posted by Derek S

The biggest problem with that system is that by and large the public are idiots and asking them to do anything more complex than scrawl an X leads to all manner of issues.

The system was used in the last elections up here and caused over 100,000 spoiled papers (about 1 in 20 of all votes cast)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle1756280.ece

As the article states

There is no point in blaming the e-counting machines for the breakdown in democracy. Yes, there were malfunctions on the night, but so what? We are all now alert to the empty promise of efficiency that computerising anything brings. And, yes, the ballot papers were designed for the scanners, rather than the voters, and that didn’t help. But it wasn’t the key issue.
The blame for the contemptuous treatment of the voters lies with the Scotland Office and Scottish Executive, who between them decided to defy the recommendations of the Arbuthnott Commission review of the voting system (appointed, let’s not forget, to make polling in Scotland fairer and simpler) and hold both the Scottish parliamentary elections and the local authority elections on the same day.
Hence the two ballot papers, one requiring crosses, one numbers; hence the confusion. Voters were not helped by the rules that allowed the Nationalists to put “Alex Salmond for First Minister” instead of “SNP” on every ballot paper, muddying the water between personal and party votes. Bewildering? Imagine how Scotland’s thousands of elderly and barely literate felt.

It was not the basics of STV that were at fault it was as highlighted above. In a fair and transparent system it is perfectly comprehensible. Were this not the case, Germany, Greece, Ireland and all the others would now have FPTP. It is very unfair to insult the intelligence of the voters by claiming any thing but FPTP is incomprehensible.