Chris Green supported Option C in last week’s referendum, which finished in second place behind full island-wide voting at the end of the multi-round count.
Had the States accepted the original amendment he submitted to get Option C added to the ballot sheet, he felt the outcome may have been different.
‘I believe that if the States had backed the first Green/Graham amendment to have a hybrid model with an election on one day and not split it into two elections, it might well have made a difference in the voting,’ he said.
‘Quite a few people could see the disadvantage of two separate elections in the Option C that made it onto the ballot paper in the referendum.
‘That is why Deputy Graham and myself originally proposed an Option C that would have had all deputies – whether island-wide or district – elected on a single day.
‘The States however rejected that idea of having an Option C with an election on one day. It is noteworthy that Sacc [the States’ Assembly and Constitution Committee] had opposed that original amendment too.
‘However, in the end, Sacc did not oppose the second amendment which had the two separate elections and that amendment became Option C when the States endorsed it.
‘All of this is academic now, of course. We must now get behind the winning model – Option A – and make it work effectively for the island. The 2020 election will be fascinating.
‘I congratulate the Option A team for their win, but I am disappointed. Option C was a pragmatic solution which was obviously attractive to a certain number of local islanders.
‘However, I do think that the machinery of government is a bigger issue for the States to sort out than island-wide voting and that must be addressed very soon.’
The States’ most senior politician, Policy & Resources president Deputy Gavin St Pier, said implementing island-wide election successfully should now be the priority.
‘As a community, however individuals voted, we must respect the result and now work hard to ensure that when implemented at the next general election in June 2020, it is as effective as possible,’ he tweeted from London.
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