And only three will be open throughout the whole voting period.
Dave Ferguson Hall at Beau Sejour, Les Maingys Activity Centre and Styx Community Centre will be open for two pre-polling days – Sunday 15 June and Tuesday 17 June, as well as the main polling day on Wednesday 18 June. Castel Douzaine Room, St Martin’s Parish Hall, St Sampson’s Community Hall, St Peter Port Constables’ Office and St Andrew’s Douzaine Room will only be open on the Wednesday for voting.
States’ Assembly & Constitution Committee president Carl Meerveld said the community would be able to vote at any polling station, regardless of where they live. ‘This reflects our island-wide voting system and ensures that nobody can turn up at the wrong venue,’ he said.
‘Having considered footfall during the 2020 election, and taking feedback from the parishes into account, the committee is confident that its proposals for 2025 will ensure that the electorate has plenty of choice over where to cast their votes.’
There were more than a dozen polling stations for the October 2020 election, including the KGV, Forest Douzaine Room and St Saviour’s Community Centre.
This was likely partially due to the pandemic, but in any event nearly 70% of the electorate registered for a postal vote.
It was noted by SACC that the two super polling stations at that election – St Sampson’s High and the Performing Arts Centre – saw a high footfall, but some of the smaller parish polling stations saw relatively few voters.
It is hoped the system will be a more streamlined approach.
All the proposed polling stations, with the exception of the St Andrew’s Douzaine Room, are fully accessible.
SACC did although acknowledge that some of the western parishes – Forest, St Saviour’s and Torteval – no longer have a dedicated polling station. Parish officials were consulted and it is understood that no concerns were raised.
The matter was also discussed with the Douzaine Liaison Group and members were supportive of the proposals.
Castel douzenier Jo May is the lead parish liaison for the general election.
‘The majority of parishes were supportive of proposals to consolidate the polling stations and for them all to be "super polling stations", with any concerns being addressed early on, and plans adapted accordingly,’ she said.
n The election2020 website has been taken down. The website did initially hold the manifestos for all the election candidates. However details of unsuccessful candidates had subsequently been removed.
It did still contain manifestos for successful candidates and details of the results. It is not known when the website was removed.
Manifestos for successful candidates are still available on their gov.gg profiles.
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