2014 Jersey electoral reform referendum

Politics of Jersey

The Crown Duke of Normandy King Charles III Lieutenant Governor Jerry Kyd
ExecutiveGovernment of Jersey Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham Council of Ministers
Legislature Bailiff Timothy Le Cocq
Judiciary Crown Officers Jurat Courts of Jersey
Local government Parishes Parish assemblies
Elections Political parties Last election
External relations External relations EU trade deal
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A referendum on electoral reform was held in Jersey on 15 October 2014, alongside general elections. Voters were asked whether elected constables should continue to automatically become members of the States. Their continued automatic membership was approved by 62% of voters.

Background

Constables are elected heads of the 12 parishes in Jersey, and at the time of the referendum they automatically became members of the States upon their election as Constables. A non-binding referendum was held on electoral reform in April 2013, which put forward three proposals on how members of the States were elected, including one in which the Constables were removed from the States. This option was defeated in a second round of voting by a proposal that involved retaining the seats of the Constables. In July 2013 the proposals were rejected by the States by a vote of 28–21.

In November 2013 members of the States agreed to a second referendum on the subject of electoral reform. Initially two questions were proposed: whether members of the States should all be classified with the same status, and whether Constables should lose their automatic membership. However, in December the legislature decided to have only one question on the referendum. The Privileges and Procedures Committee of the States had planned for the referendum question to be:

Changes to the membership of the States Assembly are being proposed from 2018.
There would be a single type of elected member of the States Assembly.

49 Members would be elected.

The allocation of seats within parish districts would be proportional to the population in each district.
Should this proposed new system be introduced? Yes or No.

The States later voted to have one question, on the status of elected constables. It read:

Should the constables remain as members of the States as an automatic right? Yes or No.

Campaign

The "yes" campaign, in favour of retaining the automatic membership of constables was supported by Chief Minister Ian Gorst.

Results

Choice	Votes	%
For	15,068	62.45
Against	9,061	37.55
Invalid/blank votes	160	–
Total	24,289	100
Registered voters/turnout	62,539	38.84
Source: Vote.je

References

Referendum Archived 2015-01-10 at the Wayback Machine Vote.je
Referendum on the States Assembly composition States of Jersey
Jersey politicians reject referendum reform move BBC News, 17 July 2013
^ Jersey States opts for second voting reform referendum BBC News, 5 November 2013
Jersey States set one question for reform referendum BBC News, 20 December 2014
^ Jersey public to be asked over constables in referendum BBC News, 16 July 2014
Yes campaign Vote.je

v t e Elections and referendums in Jersey
General elections	1857 1860 1863 1866 1869 1872 1875 1878 1881 1884 1886 1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1945 1948 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 2018 2022 2026
Connétable elections	Grouville St Brelade St Clement St Helier St John St Lawrence St Martin St Mary St Ouen St Peter St Saviour Trinity
By-elections	... 1999 2000 2003 2004 2010 2013 2014 2016 2019 2021
Other elections	1940
Referendums	2008 2013 2014

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