VOTES could be tallied the day after the election next year as politicians consider moving ballot counting to cut overtime and reduce mistakes.
The Privileges and Procedures Committee has lodged a proposition to change a law which states where votes can be counted. The aim is to allow the ballot count to happen on the Monday after the 2026 election, which is due to take place on Sunday 7 June.
In a report accompanying the proposition, the committee said concerns had been raised that holding elections on a Sunday would mean support staff have to work outside their normal hours, causing parishes to pay extra for overtime and long weekend shifts.
“It has been suggested that to reduce both the financial and physical impact, the counting of the ballots could be held the day after the elections on the Monday,” the proposition said.
But in order to achieve this, a law change is required to allow the count to take place somewhere other than the polling stations used on election day.
Under the current law, votes must be counted at a polling station in the area – which is usually the Parish Hall. But in St Helier, where two constituencies use schools as polling locations, counting would not be able to take place on a Monday as lessons would be in progress.
The proposed change would let the Jersey Electoral Authority decide where the count happens next year. This would enable the Town Hall or another venue to be used for all of the St Helier constituencies’ count in 2026.
Votes would therefore be able to be counted the day after the election in a bid to “reduce both the financial and physical impact”.
The committee explained: “Convention has been for ballots to be counted, and sometimes recounted, into the early hours of the morning, with those involved working almost 20-hour long days.
“Working such long hours has inevitably led to mistakes being made due to fatigue in previous elections, culminating in major issues in 2022 when the returns form was incorrectly completed in at least four constituencies which meant that, although the outcomes were not in any way disputed, the result breakdowns could not be uploaded to vote.je for nearly a week.
“Counting on a Monday would allow those involved to go home when the polls close at 8pm and to return refreshed the next day.
“Moreover, public sector staff could assist with the counting process, rather than relying on parish staff working double time on a Sunday or volunteers.”
The committee is also proposing that all of the postal voting process is outsourced to a UK provider for a cost of £34,000.
“This includes the printing, administration of applications and postage of ballots,” the proposition states.
“Using a UK provider will not only ensure that the process will be managed by a company with vast experience of postal voting administration on a national scale, but also greatly reduces the number of temporary staff required and therefore represents a major cost saving.”
Both parts of the proposition are due to be debated in the States Assembly in January.
