2018 Guernsey electoral system referendum
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A referendum on the electoral system for the States was held in Guernsey on 10 October 2018.[1]
Voters were asked to rank five different proposed electoral systems, with a run-off system used to determine the winning proposal. Option A, a 38-member constituency covering the whole island, won the vote. As a result of voter turnout (45%) being above the 40% quorum, the vote was binding.
Vote counting system
In the initial count, only first choices were counted. As no proposal received a majority of the vote, the proposal that received the fewest votes was eliminated; any ballots with this proposal as first choice were redistributed to the other options according to the second preference. This process was repeated until a proposal had a majority of the votes.[2]
A quorum of 40% voter turnout was required for the result to be binding, following a promise by the States.[3]
Electoral system proposals
Voters were presented with five options for a new electoral system:[4]
- Option A: One 38-member constituency covering the whole island, with voters casting up to 38 votes. Deputies would serve four year terms.
- Option B: Seven constituencies with five or six seats, with voters casting as many votes as there are seats. Deputies would serve four year terms.
- Option C: 28 constituencies with three, four or five seats and one 10-member constituency covering the whole island; voters would have as many votes as there are seats in each constituency. Deputies would serve four year terms.
- Option D: Four constituencies with 9, 10 or 11 seats, with voters casting as many votes as there are seats. Deputies would serve four year terms.
- Option E: A single island-wide 38-member constituency with one-third of the members elected every two years for a six-year term. Voters would have 12 or 13 votes at each election, depending on how many seats were up for election.
Results
| Option | First count | Second count | Third count | Fourth count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| A | 5,304 | 37.5 | 5,390 | 38.3 | 5,755 | 41.5 | 6,017 | 52.5 | |
| C | 3,760 | 26.5 | 3,914 | 27.8 | 4,220 | 30.4 | 5,448 | 47.5 | |
| B | 3,486 | 24.6 | 3,761 | 26.7 | 3,898 | 28.1 | – | – | |
| E | 940 | 6.6 | 1,004 | 7.1 | – | – | – | – | |
| D | 672 | 4.7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Non-transferable votes (accrued) | 93 | – | 289 | – | 2,697 | – | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 217 | – | |||||||
| Total | 14,379 | 100 | |||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 31,865 | 45.1 | |||||||
| Source: Bailiwick of Guernsey | |||||||||
References
- ^ Referendum on Guernsey's Electoral System Government of Guernsey
- ^ The Electoral System Referendum (Guernsey) Law, 2018 Guernsey Legal Resources
- ^ Islanders to find out how deputies will be elected in future ITV News
- ^ The five options in the Referendum Government of Guernsey
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