A referendum on electoral reform was held on

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

on 24 April 2013.Jersey referendum: How it will work
BBC News, 23 March 2013 Voters were offered three choices for a future electoral system, and will be asked to rank them in order of preference. Option B was the most preferred option, receiving 41% of votes in the first round, and 55% after second preferences were counted.Referendum on the States Assembly composition
States of Jersey Voter turnout was just 26%, and the proposed reforms were later rejected by the

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

.Jersey politicians reject referendum reform move
BBC News, 16 July 2013

Background

In 2012 an Electoral Commission was set up to examine potential reforms to the electoral system after a campaign by former States deputy Daniel Wimberly. The then-current system provided for a 51-seat States, with constituency size ranging from 1,200 to 98,000 residents. The States had three types of elected members; 29 deputies elected in constituencies of between 1,200 and 3,000 residents;

constables A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

who head the 12

parishes of Jersey The parishes of Jersey (Jèrriais, Jerriais: ) are the civil and religious Administrative division, administrative districts of Jersey in the Channel Islands. There are twelve in total; all have access to the sea and share a name with their anc ...

; and 10 senators elected on an island-wide basis. The three options put to voters were: However, Wimberly was unhappy with the proposals, claiming that the options presented did not make the changes people wanted, as they would still not be able to choose their government.

Electoral system

Voters were asked to rank their preferences. If no option received over 50% of the vote, the second preferences of ballots for the third-placed option would be tallied and added to the totals of those in first and second place. Voters had to be registered by 3 April.

Campaign

Option A was supported by the "A Team", who claimed it was simple, fair and equal and its implementation would mean that "for the first time, all islanders will have an equal say in how the States is made up". Supporters of Option B claimed that removing the Constables from the States would lead to parishes being unrepresented, whilst supporters of Option C claimed that keeping the Senators was important, describing them as "the most representative elected office and therefore the most democratic." States deputy

Jeremy Maçon Jeremy Martin Maçon is a Jersey politician who served as one of the Deputies in the St Saviour No. 1 constituency between 2008 and 2022. Education Maçon was educated at La Pouquelaye School, Haute Valleé, Hautlieu School, and Highlands Colleg ...

called for a minimum turnout threshold of 40% for the referendum to encourage more people to vote,Minimum turnout call for Jersey's referendum
BBC News, 24 March 2013 but the proposal was rejected by a vote of 31–13 in the States.Jersey reform referendum: No minimum turnout
BBC News, 17 April 2013 A proposal by Constable Phil Rondel for a 51% threshold was rejected by 36–7. Adrian Lee, an expert on Jersey politics, claimed that turnout would probably be low enough for the States to ignore the results. In March, Senator

Lyndon Farnham Lyndon John Farnham is a Jersey politician who has served as the Chief Minister of Jersey since January 2024. He formerly served as the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport, and Culture. He has been a De ...

asked the treasury minister for £5,000 to be given to each of the campaign groups, and for each campaign's spending to be capped at £10,000. Farnham is supporting the Option C campaign.

Results

Aftermath

The States voted on adopting the reforms in July 2013, but rejected them by a vote of 28–21, with one abstention. Following the vote, Simon Crowcroft resigned as chairman of the Privileges and Procedures Committee.

References

External links

Official websiteElectoral CommissionThe A Team campaign groupOption B campaign groupC Sense campaign group
{{Jersey elections

Referendums in Jersey 2013 in Jersey Electoral reform referendums April 2013 in Europe Multiple-choice referendums