Little sign of election spark at main event

But crucially, with less than a fortnight until the polls open and with postal votes being able to be returned before then, there has at best been a lukewarm public reaction to the whole affair.

It can only be hoped that the sum total of what is happening is somehow creating a more informed electorate than what has been apparent so far.

Perhaps the steady drip-drip of different events, door knocking and written manifestos, of social media outpourings and videos, are penetrating behind the scenes.

But the fear is the prospect of choosing up to 38 candidates from 119 names has been a turn-off for all but the most politically engaged.

Yesterday’s meet the candidates event put on by the States was the only time they will all be in the same room.

It was well-organised, but lifeless and less well attended than most expected.

That is not a great sign.

Voters need to engage beyond analysing written or recorded material because that leaves little opportunity to challenge the message being transmitted.

The absence of the traditional hustings is one reason for the lack of the usual buzz.

A deputy has to have different skills, but an important one remains being able to put together a coherent spoken argument and speak coherently and persuasively under pressure.

A voter can learn a lot about a candidate under the spotlight of a hustings, they have to answer questions they can simply avoid in their manifestos, for example.

For all the small scale public events, all we have so far is a veneer of characters.

The lack of engagement is all the more remarkable given there are more ways of communicating than ever before.

Maybe this saturation is part of the problem, allied to the number of runners it becomes overwhelming.

This has become a written and recorded election, shorn of life.