Elections with a difference

After the slog of the hustings, the flutter of campaign literature and the proliferation of the websites, voters are starting to weigh up their final decisions before the ballot boxes open for 12 hours from 8 a.m. next Wednesday, 19 October.

To help the decision-making process, we publish with today’s JEP a supplement containing profiles of the 82 candidates, based on their past records and current aspirations, together with an analysis of their responses to a questionnaire framed around a survey of our readers.

We asked what issues were most concerning the Jersey electorate and based our survey of candidates on the answers received. Some candidates have declined to participate, as is their privilege. The survey does not claim to be either foolproof or fully scientific.

It does, though, seek to focus some extra attention on how those asking for our votes might be expected to approach some of the challenges facing Jersey and to add another, more analytical, layer of information to the claims made in the candidates’ own blander and necessarily less impartial campaign literature.

Today’s JEP supplement also sets out to demystify a Jersey election process which, in what are probably its final days, has become esoteric to the point of bewilderment for some. Long-standing residents, or those with a particular interest in local politics, may understand well enough the intricacies and nuances of the relationships between Senators, Deputies and Constables, the responsibilities they exercise or seek, the reasons why some have not faced the electorate this time round, the number of votes an individual can cast for which category, how the so-called machinery of government works after the elections, and so on.

To newcomers (and some not so new), however, the complexities of the system can be discouraging – achieving quite the opposite of what is hoped for by those who campaign every three years for higher levels of public participation.

This year, those complexities are compounded by the decision to hold elections for all three categories of States Member on the same day for the first time. No one knows how this will work in practice and it certainly presents a number of logistical headaches for those organising the polling and the counts. Claims that it might of itself generate extra interest and higher turn-outs are likely to prove a case of collective wishful thinking, however.

What is more encouraging, and clearly demonstrated by the contents of today’s election guide supplement, is the increased voter choice and levels of credibility to be found, particularly among the parochial candidates. Clearly, significant numbers of members of the currently neglected Middle Jersey have heeded the call for a higher calibre of candidate to come forward and, win or lose on 19 October, deserve credit for having the public-spirited conviction to do so.