IT cost at least £83 per new voter but the initial reaction from the team tasked with getting more people to take part in the recent election is that it was worth the time, effort and money.
Over 2,400 more people voted on Sunday 7 June compared to the previous election. The breakdown who voted by age group and other categories is only captured in questionnaires completed by a selection of people outside polling stations – and they are yet to be compiled.
But the headline figures are that 27,691 Islanders voted this month – and increase of 9% on 2022. Turnout fell by 9.2% to 32.4% because 25,000 people were added to the electoral roll because of automatic voter registration.
The election engagement team had a £200,000 budget, so – at a rudimentary level – each new voter cost £83. However, this figure did not include recurring staffing costs or requiring a government data team to work overtime on a Sunday.
Asked if a target had been set, in terms of increasing participation in this year’s election, Jenny O’Brien, who is Head of Digital and Public Engagement at the States Greffe, said: “In all honesty, my target was to see an increase in the number of voters because in 2022 turnout had decreased from the previous election.
“Of course, this time we are not focusing on turnout because we are not comparing like for like but a 9% increase in the number of people who voted made me very happy.”
She added: “People often ask me ‘what’s the magic bullet that will make everyone vote?’ but, of course, it is not one single thing nor is it going to happen quickly.
“But it is happening and I think we need to hang on to the fact that we are making progress, things are moving in the right direction, and we are seeing growth.”
Ms O’Brien said the her budget, which at £200,000 was £50,000 more than the 2022 election, was money well spent and the team were not in any way profligate.
One of the reasons the budget had increased, she added, was due to her team taking on more responsibilities on behalf of the Jersey Electoral Authority.
She said: “Filming the hustings, which is a requirement following a proposition in 2022, cost about £50,000, so that was a quarter of the budget gone. Creating, printing and distributing the booklet, which many people found helpful, cost another £40,000.
“So that was almost half the budget spent before moderators, venues, digital advertising, polling station posters, roadside banners, the Automatic Voter Registration campaign etc.
“Our staffing time doesn’t come out of that and a lot of the education and outreach work is about human resource. We have had a lot of messages to get out there in a fairly short period of time.”
The Greffe had a team of 12 people focused on the 2026 election, although not all of them were involved from the start of the cycle, with many only turning their full attention to it after the current Assembly wound up its business in April.
Their work included organising candidate induction sessions, the inaugural candidates’ fayre at Oakfield Sports on 29 April and carrying out a post-voting questionnaire on polling day.
Ms O’Brien said: “Alongside that, a lot of activity – such as our education and outreach team’s work with schools – doesn’t stop and we also have to prep for the new Members coming in. We ran an induction last week and we’re now preparing to support Members, old and new, when they take on new roles in the new Assembly.”
Asked how the time and money spent by the Greffe was assessed to determine if it was worth the effort, Ms O’Brien said: “We had the election observers over from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, who will write their report; the parishes, Jersey Electoral Authority and ourselves will also produce reports.
“There are lots of people looking at it through different lenses. Ultimately, the next Privileges and Procedures Committee will decide on funding or any law changes before the next election.”
Ms O’Brien said that it was difficult to assess if £200,000 was the appropriate budget because the ‘to-do list’ could always be expanded.
She said: “If you gave me a million pounds, I could spend that because there’s always more you can do. It has to be about proportionality: what is reasonable and what does the taxpayer want us to spend with their money?
“Given the fixed costs that I’ve mentioned, such as the booklet, website and hustings, I felt it was a proportionate amount on money. Looking at the candidates’ fayre, for example, we borrowed the carpets and cleaned them ourselves; we did not have any fancy lighting, signage or event specialists; we did that all in-house.
“I care passionately about using taxpayers’ money wisely. At the end of the day, we are public servants here to use people’s money in the best way possible to help them engage but without wasting it.”
