At present, elections for parochial offices, such as douzenier, are held during parish meetings, unless a motion to defer them to
a later date is supported by seven parishioners.
Last week, an election in the Vale – between six candidates for four douzenier seats – was deferred until Wednesday 15 November on the votes of seven parishioners at a public meeting attended by approximately 60.
Supporters of the current arrangements believe there should continue to be a low bar for contested elections to be deferred until a separate polling day, rather than held on the evening of a parish meeting.
But Vale officials believe it puts too much power in too few hands.
‘It doesn’t seem right to us that only seven parishioners can stand up and, without even stating a good reason, force a deferral while none of the 50-odd other people at the meeting have any say in the matter,’ said senior constable Richard Leale.
‘Why is seven the magic number? No vote can be taken. It’s just a fait accompli.
‘We think others who have taken the time to attend the meeting should be able to challenge a request for a deferral.
‘If you look at it democratically, shouldn’t the other people present also have their voices heard and be able to have some say over whether there should be a deferral?’
Vale parish officials have written to the States Assembly & Constitution Committee, but the matter has now been passed to the Policy & Resources Committee, with whom the Vale are keen to open discussions about the possibility of changing the law.
‘I haven’t spoken to other parishes but we think they would be quite supportive of our approach,’ said Mr Leale.
He would like to see changes to the parochial election process, even if the Vale’s initial suggestion is not accepted.
‘Either all those present at the parish meeting should be able to vote on a proposal to defer the election, or the whole process should be changed so that there is a hustings on the night of the parish meeting, at which the parishioners could ask questions of the candidates, and then the election itself is held automatically the next day or the next week,’ he said.
The six candidates for four seats on the Vale douzaine are Richard Digard, Oliver Goddard, John Niles, Victoria Robinson, Jeremy Smithies and Martyn Torode.
Voting takes place at the Douzaine
Room in Maraitaine Road between 8am and 8pm.
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