The island has elected Joseph Perree and Michael Lanyon as its newest conseillers. The duo replace Andrew Miller, who stepped down in January for personal reasons, and Ben Harris, who resigned in October.
While Mr Perree received 152 votes, Mr Lanyon received 97, just one more than the candidate in third place, Sebastien Moerman.
And as returning officer Paul Armorgie explained, the result could have been even closer.
‘After the initial count it was actually a dead heat,’ he said. ‘In that circumstance the law calls for a recount with a completely new team. They found a ballot paper that was technically spoilt which was not spotted in the original count. This was because ticks had been used to select candidates instead of crosses, and the law is very clear that it must be crosses.’
The newly discovered ‘spoilt’ paper removed one of Mr Moerman’s votes, and saw Mr Lanyon elected.
‘Without it, as per our election laws, there would have had to be a further by-election in two weeks’ time,’ said Mr Armorgie. ‘It’s something we have never seen before to have an election so close.’
The other unsuccessful candidate was Antony Dunks, who received 49 votes.
214 votes were cast with turnout at 56%, although Mr Armorgie said he would liked to have seen a turnout of more than 60%, he said the figure was fairly standard for a winter by-election.
‘What’s important is that we had a contested by-election which we have lacked in the past,’ he said. ‘I think we can say categorically it was taxation and electricity that were the main factors in people’s decision on who to vote for at the ballot box.’
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