A RENEWED bid to allow some Islanders who are not British citizens to stand for election has been rejected by the States Assembly.
Politicians voted by 24 to 18 against a proposition brought by Deputy Carina Alves about extending the criteria to become a States Member to include non-British people living in Jersey who have permanent Entitled status, having also passed the Island’s citizenship test.
Deputy Alves said that the move would remove a barrier for election hopefuls who could take a citizenship test for £62, whereas the fee for the naturalisation process was – at the time of writing – £1,605.
She said the proposition was not radical, mirroring a recent change to allow non-British citizens to serve as police officers and would “strengthen democracy”.
“This is about giving the public more choice and giving a clear message about how we value those who have committed so much of their lives to this Island,” she said.
Deputy Moz Scott claimed there were potential risks to national security over the move, although Deputy Kirsten Morel said it was perfectly possible that an individual who was a British citizen could be a risk to national security.
“I am more interested in someone’s views or sense of identity with regards to Jersey than with regards to Britain or the UK,” he said.
Deputy Philip Ozouf said he felt the move would “challenge the coherence of our constitutional framework” and “could compromise governance”.
Constable Karen Stone, chair of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, said she was concerned about making changes to electoral law – by the time legislation had been drafted and approved – within 12 months of the election scheduled for June 2026.
Deputy Rob Ward said he was “stunned” by the alleged national security concerns raised by Deputy Scott and said he feared the Assembly would exclude some candidates in a “non-subtle way”. Similar sentiments were expressed by Deputy Montfort Tadier, who described some of the arguments against the proposition as “a smokescreen for prejudice”.
Some Members, including Deputies Ian Gorst and Tom Binet, said they were against making a rushed decision ahead of the 2026 election and would like the matter to be reviewed by the Privileges and Procedures Committee.
The vote marked the latest defeat to propositions lodged by Reform Jersey on this subject. The topic was brought to the Assembly four times by Deputy Tadier, most recently in December last year when it was defeated by 31-14.
Deputy Sam Mézec said Reform politicians would continue to press for something they believed strongly was a just move. “We are not going to go quietly,” he said.
