Of all political nirvanas locally, island-wide voting is up there with that other hallowed goal – ‘joined up government’.

The States Assembly and Constitution Committee has worked diligently to look at the options and arrive at a single, deliverable, solution.

Has it succeeded? Sadly, not really.

That, however, is not a failure on the committee’s part. Desirable though island-wide voting might be, achieving it is far from easy.

The Electoral Reform Society – independent, expert, dispassionate and knowledgeable – says that while there are possible models, ‘they all present significant practical difficulties’.

To overcome them, it says, Guernsey would either need to form political parties or else slim the current States (from 45 plus two Alderney representatives) to no more than 20 members.

Since islanders will regard neither option with favour, any move to island-wide voting will end up being a compromise somewhere.

Even particularly interested voters will struggle to poll 45 candidates from a list of names nearly twice that long. Most will call it a day after around 10 or fewer, which inevitably will favour popular candidates.

The other aspect of island-wide voting is that it would actually, although not intentionally, put a barrier between candidates and electors. At the moment, hustings are a vibrant part of the pre-election scene. Trying to get all candidates (on average 82) into a room to answer questions cannot happen.

Instead, those seeking election will have a mailshot and the internet to get their message across to the island instead of, as at present, walking their parish or district and meeting islanders on their doorstep.

As the Electoral Reform Society says, IWV is possible but with significant practical difficulties – and there are many more than highlighted here.

Since the chairman of the constitution committee cannot agree on the best way forward, this is far from a black and white issue.

In deciding what they want to gain from island-wide voting, islanders will also have to be clear on what they are prepared to lose as well.