Danny wrote:
Imran and I have discussed this. It seems that most people who have spoken out are opposed to First Past the Post as our voting system. We selected this because it seemed the easiest for everyone to understand and implement, and with the understanding that there will be opposition. In fact, I believe that no matter what voting system is chosen, there will be opposition to it.
On the other hand, we are willing to consider other methods. Imran will be posting on this later. Without having a huge vote on how we should vote, I would like to invite people on this list to propose alternative methods. I will also pose this same question to the candidates themselves.
Simplicity was a much stronger argument when we were talking about doing the vote on a meta page. Now I'm writing custom voting software. I don't mind which voting method you choose, I'm sure I'll be able to code it before the end of the month.
Condorcet's method has some nice mathematical properties, but does have the significant criticism that it is prone to electing incompetent candidates merely because they are in the middle of the political spectrum. Critics of IRV point out that changes in preferences can have unexpected results. Although I'm not an expert, I have to admit a preference towards IRV.
For people who think there is no strategic voting in Condorcet's method, have a look at:
http://condorcet.org/rp/strategy.shtml
I have to admit that the use of the FPTP method factored strongly in my decision not to stand, since I didn't want to steal votes from those candidates most similar to myself.
-- Tim Starling