Accuracy of electoral rolls on Election Day

7

WQ.87/2018

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMITÉ DES CONNÉTABLES BY SENATOR S.Y. MÉZEC

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 26th JUNE 2018

Question

Further to the recent elections, will the Chairman –

1. give an account of what problems, if any, the Parishes encountered on Election Day regarding the accuracy of the electoral rolls;
2. request from the Judicial Greffier information on the number of voters who were permitted to vote, despite not initially being found on the electoral roll; and
3. advise whether it is the Comité's assessment that the decision to remove voters from the electoral roll, if they had not registered during the preceding three years, before the election (rather than afterwards as on previous occasions) was a success?

Answer

1. No particular problems were encountered with the accuracy of the electoral registers. There were some persons who attended at a polling station to find their names were not included on the electoral register but where this was due to an administrative error the person was permitted to vote (see (b) below).
2. The Judicial Greffier has advised that 77 voters were permitted to vote by pre-poll or postal or on Election Day despite not initially being found on the electoral register. These names were added under Article 32 and Article 46B of the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 as the Autorisé or Adjoint, or Judicial Greffier in relation to pre-poll or postal votes, was satisfied that the elector's name had been omitted due to an administrative error'.
3. Article 8 of the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 provides for the exclusion or removal of a name from the electoral register. This includes where a person has not for 3 consecutive years been included in and signed a statement (the annual statement'). A notice is served on each person advising that the person's name will be removed unless the person confirms, within 28 days, that he or she is still entitled to have his or her name on the register. The by-election held in the summer 2016 delayed the sending out of such notices.

The Comité has made no assessment on whether the removal was a success, rather the work was undertaken and managed in accordance with the provisions of the law.

However, clearly any person who failed to respond to a notice and whose name was removed in 2016 or 2017 had two further opportunities prior to Election Day to notify the parish that they were entitled to be registered as an elector –

1. The annual statement' was sent out in the autumn 2017 to every unit of dwelling accommodation. It is the duty of each person ordinarily resident in that accommodation to check the statement is correct, sign the statement and ensure it is returned (with any necessary corrections) to the parish by 1st December.
2. The Notice of Registered Voters was sent out between 1st-15th March 2018 listing the names of all persons on the electoral register at that unit of dwelling accommodation and giving details of where and how to inspect the electoral register and explaining when a person is entitled to be registered and how to register.