PLANS to extend voting rights to all prisoners in Jersey could come with staffing and cost implications for the Island’s prison service, the Home Affairs Minister has confirmed.
In a letter to the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat revealed that the States of Jersey Prison Service would need “additional resources” to support the implementation of proposed changes to Jersey’s election law.
The legislative changes, which were recently approved in principle by States Members, seeks to end the current blanket ban on voting for prisoners serving sentences longer than four years.
While the principles of the amendment, brought forward by the Privileges and Procedures Committee, were backed overwhelmingly in the Assembly – with 44 votes in favour and one against – it now faces scrutiny over its practical implications before a final vote expected later this month.
Deputy Le Hegarat confirmed that the prison service had not been consulted prior to the proposition being lodged, but outlined the operational impacts of such a reform.
She explained that the service would “require additional resources to facilitate an extension of voting rights to all prisoners based in Jersey”.
The minister explained that, previously, prison staff registered each prisoner eligible to vote with St Brelade’s Parish Hall, which required additional administration.
“Therefore, increasing the scope of those eligible would require increased resourcing for staff,” she explained.
“Maintenance of the electoral role as and when prisoners arrive and leave the prison population would also need to be considered.”
Deputy Le Hegarat added that there would also be staffing cost implications.
“Officers will be required to supervise visits from election candidates as well as cover the cost of postage, assuming postal votes will be preferable,” she explained.
“Additionally, if all election candidates visited the prison or wanted to meet with the prison population via Teams, it would require additional staff resourcing, supervision and management.”
The introduction of prisoner voting would align Jersey more closely with human rights expectations set by the European Court of Human Rights, and mirrors existing policies in Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which already allow all prisoners to vote.
