A chance to make a real difference

On 10 October, Guernsey will have its first referendum.

Referendums are viewed by some as a blunt instrument, but are widely acknowledged as an opportunity for people to really shake things up. We only need to look to the UK’s decision to leave the EU, as a result of its referendum, to see their potential power.

The island’s own referendum gives voters five possible outcomes.

Options A to E range from staying as we are, to voting for 38 from a possible 80 candidates, and three alternatives.

Representatives for four of those options, A-D, were brought together in a panel debate yesterday for the first and only time at an event hosted by the Institute of Directors. The event gave the campaigners the chance to set out their stall, and to answer questions from the floor.

It was a fascinating exercise and one that raised as many questions as it answered. A show of hands before and after the speeches seemed to show that people were as undecided at the end as they were at the start.

It’s a great pity that the wider public won’t have a similar opportunity for a hustings because, to state the obvious, this is big.

Successive States Assemblies have been branded ‘worst States ever’ over the years, with voters complaining about the quality of deputies and the lack of progress made by the States. The message here is clear. Whether you want change or not, you should engage with this process because it will affect you and, if you don’t vote, you can’t moan about what happens afterwards.

In order to be binding, there needs to be 40% or more voter turnout. That equates to a little over 12,000 people. It only takes a moment to register and will give you the chance to have a say in how you vote for the people who make decisions about your life.

This newspaper urges you to get involved, find out what it’s all about, get on the electoral roll and, for all our sakes, on 10 October, VOTE.