Reform of the Composition of the States Assembly (P.7/2020): second amendment [P.7-2020 Amd.(2)]

STATES OF JERSEY

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REFORM OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE STATES ASSEMBLY (P.7/2020): SECOND AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 3rd March 2020 by Senator S.Y. Mézec

STATES GREFFE

2020  P.7 Amd.(2)

REFORM OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE STATES ASSEMBLY (P.7/2020): SECOND AMENDMENT

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PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (c) –

For the number "49" substitute the number "52", and for the table substitute the following table –

" Number of Constituencies Deputies to be returned

District 1: St. Helier South

Vingtaines de Bas et de Haut de la Ville, St. Helier 5 District 2: St. Helier Central

Vingtaine de Rouge Bouillon, St. Helier

Vingtaine de Bas du Mont au Prêtre, St. Helier 5

District 3: St. Helier North

Vingtaine du Mont Cochon, St. Helier

Vingtaine du Mont à l'Abbé, St. Helier

Vingtaine du Haut du Mont au Prêtre, St. Helier 5 District 4: St. Saviour

Parish of St. Saviour 5 District 5: St. Clement

Parish of St. Clement 4 District 6: St. Brelade

Parish of St. Brelade 4

District 7: St. Mary , St. Ouen and St. Peter

Parish of St. Mary

Parish of St. Ouen

Parish of St. Peter 4

District 8: St. John , St. Lawrence and Trinity

Parish of St. John

Parish of St. Lawrence

Parish of Trinity 4

District 9: Grouville and St. Martin

Parish of Grouville

Parish of St. Martin 4  "

SENATOR S.Y. MÉZEC

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. to agree that fair representation and equality in voting weight and power across the whole population should be the basis for any reform of the composition and election of the States;
2. notwithstanding the objective set out in paragraph (a), to agree that the States should respect and implement the outcome of the 2014 referendum on the role of the Connétable s as States Members  and  that,  accordingly,  the  office  of   Connétable should entitle the holder to full membership of the States as an automatic right, including full voting rights;
3. to agree that it should establish an Assembly of 52 Members, elected  from  9 districts,  each  choosing  a  number  of representatives  based  on  population,  plus  the  12 Parish Connétable s, and to replace the current Schedule 1 to the States of Jersey Law 2005 as follows –

4. that  an  independent  Boundaries  Commission  should  be established to begin work after the 2022 elections to make recommendations  to  ensure  that  the  9  districts  remain compliant with the principles cited in paragraph (a), comprised of a Chair and 3 other members from outside the Island and of 3 Jersey residents, all with relevant skills and experience, and to request the Privileges and Procedures Committee to take the necessary steps to identify, through a process overseen by the Appointments Commission, the proposed membership of the Commission for subsequent approval by the Assembly; and
5. to request the Privileges and Procedures Committee to bring forward for debate the necessary legislative changes to alter the composition  of  the  Assembly  and  create  an  independent Boundaries Commission in time for the 2022 elections.

REPORT

Whilst PPC's P.126/2019 objectively remains the most sensible option for electoral reform, in that it delivers a fairer and simpler voting system, Senator I.J. Gorst 's P.7/2020 attempts to provide a compromise option which delivers some reform, whilst maintaining the position of the Parish Constables as voting members of the Assembly. However, in doing so, Senator Gorst has proposed a distribution of Deputies which is not only at odds with the principle of equal votes' (which is distorted by the presence of the Constables in the Assembly), but actually provides for worse voter equity than exists under the current unreformed system.

Senator Gorst has notably not provided any statistics in the report to his amendment to demonstrate the effect his proposals have on voter equity.

In Jersey, the power of your vote in elections is determined by where you live. Voters in urban Parishes have votes which are worth substantially less than those in some of the country Parishes. This is undemocratic, and provides the source for the inspiration for the calls for electoral reform which have been made in various guises since 1769. These calls will not be silenced until all Islanders have an equal vote. Anything less than that is not democracy, no matter what straws the defenders of the status quo clutch at.

If we refuse to accept that voter equity must be a guiding principle in any reform of the composition  of  the  States  Assembly,  then  we  are  guilty  of  gerrymandering  by negligence.

Paragraph (a) of Senator Gorst 's proposition asks the Assembly to accept that the principle of voter equality should be the basis of electoral reform, yet his proposal takes us  backwards  in  achieving  voter  equality,  hence  paragraph (b)  must  begin  with "notwithstanding the objective set out in paragraph (a)", which could easily be read as a euphemism for "ignoring the objective set out in paragraph (a)".

The greatest victim of Senator Gorst 's proposal is St. Helier which, despite having 1/3 of the population living there, will be reduced to just 1/4 of the representation in the States Assembly. Voters in St. Helier do not deserve to be treated as second-class citizens in our democracy, and they have repeatedly voted in referenda to make clear they do not wish to be subordinates to voters in other Parishes.

By adding an extra Deputy to each St. Helier constituency, this under-representation is improved.

Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade 's  amendment also provides one option of a way forward. However, his increase in the representation for St. Helier is compensated for by reducing the number of Deputies in the country districts. This may be unpalatable to some, which is why my amendment provides an alternative way of achieving reform, maintaining the position of the Constables, but not leaving St. Helier voters as second- class citizens.

This amendment will see an overall increase in the membership of the Assembly. This is not ideal for me; however, with the retention of the Constables, a reduction in the membership risks maintaining enough active States Members to fully take part in the Executive and Scrutiny.

Venice Commission

In his  report, Senator Gorst references the Venice Commission's Code  of Good Practice on Electoral Matters', which makes allowances for historical boundaries or administrative  units.  He  says  that  these  allowances  must  surely  include  Parishes. However, he has not given a direct quote from the Venice Commission, because the exact phrase used is "weak administrative units" (emphasis added). Senator Gorst 's denigration of the Parishes to the "weak" status which would allow for voter inequity is clearly inappropriate and at odd with most Islanders' perceptions of the Parish system.

Financial and manpower implications

This proposal would increase the salary burden from the 2022 elections by £150,000 per year. This would be paid from within the budget of the States Greffe.

APPENDIX

Under P.7/2020 unamended –

9 Electoral Boundaries – Total Population

positive = under-represented

Under P.7/2020 as amended by this amendment –

positive = under-represented