Two Ignition electrical questions discovered during MSD installation

Background: 1969 Barracuda, 340, fairly new 650 Eddy Thunder Series carb, orange box Mopar Performance ignition. Car runs fine, but didn't have quite the same punch as last year, so I thought I'd do a few upgrades starting with a complete MSD ignition system (Digital 6AL, Billet Distributor, Wires and Coil). I am very good with regular electric system, but not so much with ignition system. I read the MSD Installation instructions thoroughly and was going to install it today.
VOLTAGE DATA: The light weight red wire in MSD is supposed to go to the + side of the coil. So I thought I would check the voltage at that spot. With the key in the "ON" position, I only got 5.7 volts. I thought that might be low, so I checked some other voltages and here they are:
ENGINE OFF: Battery = 12.15V; + coil = 6.2V; inboard side ballast resistor (BR) (single blue wire) 10.3V; outboard side (BR) (brown wire and a blue wire) 6.15V.
ENGINE IDLE: Battery = 14.4V; + coil = Mostly 9.54V but bouncing between 4.4 and 9.54; inboard side BR = mostly 14.3 but bouncing between 4 and 14.3; outboard side BR = same as coil.
ENGINE @ 2500 RPM: Battery = 14.6V; + coil = Mostly 11.5V but bouncing between 0.8 and 11.5; inboard side BR = mostly 14.6 but bouncing between 4.0 and 14.6; outboard side BR = same as + coil.
When I pressed in firmly on the individual BR leads, the voltage bouncing reduced a lot.
QUESTIONS: 1. Are these voltages expected? I would have expected to see 12 volts at the + side of the coil. The MSD guy said I could use ANY 12 volt switched source for the red wire, but these voltages have me stumped. 2. The MSD guy said to bypass the BR by just taking it out and connecting the wires together. Is that a good idea? What will that do?