PARISH Constables are to meet Royal Court officials in a bid to resolve question marks over when votes from next year’s election will be counted.
With polling day being on a Sunday for the first time, there have been fears that counting might not start until Monday morning, with several politicians, including the Chief Minister, expressing surprise about a move that might disengage voters.
The issue was sparked by a proposition from the Privileges and Procedures Committee, lodged this week, to change electoral law in order to allow counting to take place at a venue which was not a polling station.
The committee referenced concerns about those working on election day and at the count, including volunteers, being more likely to make mistakes as a result of working long days, as well as the potential for additional cost to cover weekend overtime.
During a debate in the States Assembly about whether election observers should be invited to the Island next year, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham was among those alarmed at the notion of a delayed count.
“I’m surprised there’s talk to shut up shop at eight o’clock on the Sunday and go home and worry about counting the vote the next day – I think that’s one sure way to disengage people,” he said.
“There’s something exciting about an election, about staying at the count and getting it all done and dusted – it engages the community, and we’ve found it hard enough to retain that engagement in the past.”
Constable Deidre Mezbourian said that parishes wanted counting to take place on the Sunday, and were “crying out” for confirmation of the timetable from the officials, known as autorisés, appointed by the Royal Court to take charge at polling stations and oversee counting.
Following the debate, PPC chair Deputy Steve Ahier said he believed his committee’s proposition may have been misinterpreted.
“We are trying to allow for a scenario where a recount may be needed, potentially running into Monday, and some polling stations would be unavailable because they are also schools,” he said. “This does not mean we are trying to get the whole count carried out on the Monday – that is entirely a matter for the autorisés, but thus far PPC is satisfied that counting will start as soon as the polls close, as it would whichever day of the week it was that the election takes place.”
Staff from the Judicial Greffe are due to discuss the matter during a meeting with the Constables Committee on Monday.
Committee chair Constable Mike Jackson said: “We wanted to get together as quickly as possible to resolve this – I think there is some concern from the Judicial Greffe, but the general preference from Constables is to get the count over and done with straight away.”
