How does our voting system actually work?

The general election is just over a week away and there will be wall-to-wall coverage on the state of the parties, the likely winners and losers and the implications for party leaders.

What won’t be discussed, however, is the electoral system itself because apparently the body politic assumes voters know how to vote despite nobody telling them.

Ireland is almost unique in having PR-STV, which is only used in Malta and parts of Australia. Yet despite that, when was the last time you saw an information advert or received a booklet in the letterbox explaining the voting system?