Excluding votes from the Alderney representatives, who frequently abstain on ‘Guernsey-only’ issues, there have already been 78 abstentions recorded from elected representatives since the States first assembled in July.
A third of these have been recorded by Deputies David Goy, who has abstained 14 times, and Rob Curgenven, who has done so on 12 occasions. But Deputy Goy said that voting in this way was ‘a legitimate democratic tool’.
Deputy Goy said he was completely transparent about his voting record, including every abstention.
‘An abstention is not avoidance – it’s a legitimate democratic tool used when a proposal has merits and flaws, when further clarity is needed, or when representing the public interest requires nuance rather than a blunt yes or no,’ he said.
He said he voluntarily published his voting record, and his reasoning, on his own website.
He added that he did not believe his number of abstentions was high, and he would continue to vote in such a way whenever he felt it was the responsible thing to do.
‘I won’t be coerced into altering my voting behaviour because someone chooses to make an issue out of it,’ he said.
‘An abstention is a legitimate and often necessary part of democratic decision-making, and I use it only when the situation genuinely warrants it. What matters is that I give each proposal careful consideration and explain my reasoning openly, which I’ve done for every single vote. My duty is to Guernsey, not to satisfying a narrative.’
He said the reason the number of abstentions looked high was when votes on the 2026 States Budget and non-contributory benefit rates were split into 38 separate votes instead of one.
‘When large propositions are broken into many parts, the raw number of abstentions naturally increases, but that doesn’t reflect any change in my approach. I consider each item on its merits and abstain only where it is genuinely the appropriate and responsible position.’
Deputy Curgenven said that many of the times he had abstained was during the appointment of individuals to boards and other organisations when he felt he was not given enough information.
‘The process by which we select people for semi and fully independent boards is not good enough. For example, when a jurat is elected, we are just sent their CVs a week before,’ he said.
‘On the day, just the proposer and seconder speak, and the person in question is not there, so we can’t ask questions. I don’t feel comfortable voting for or against someone I just don’t know.’
He added that he would be adding to his number of abstentions next time the Assembly sat.
‘We are voting for positions at the Office of Data Protection which Home Affairs are responsible for,’ he said.
‘We don’t get any details of selection which is probably done by civil servants and then it’s just rubber-stamped by the committee and the assembly. I haven’t scrutinised them so I don’t feel I can put them in a position of responsibility.’
The two deputies next on the list of those frequently abstaining are Bruno Kay-Mouat and Paul Montague, who have both abstained five times each. All four deputies are new to the States, but Deputy Goy said he did not think this was connected to their voting record.