Election process still needs refining

Earlier this week, a report from independent observers was published about the ‘election of firsts’. They summarise it as a successful democratic exercise, but before anyone gets too comfortable there are clearly areas for improvement.

Fewer than half those eligible to vote actually do, and given the near 80% turnout, the biggest challenge remains in engaging those who simply do not sign up to the electoral roll in the first place.

One of the issues is the all or nothing approach to engaging people. There is a big push for a few months every four years to get people on the roll and silence in between. Given the amount of interaction government has with people, there should be few barriers to creating a rolling roll.

Another of the loose ends that needs sorting out is profound – and that is the impact of political parties and spending power outside the election period, with is unregulated. There is, as the report says, limited oversight of party funding, finances or campaign expenditure.

It warns of the potential for a ‘significant imbalance’ between parties, richer individuals and ordinary citizens wanting to get elected. No one wants a situation where the best candidates are crowded out by the spending power of others.

Reporting and oversight of pre-election spending, as well as drawing up clear rules for this period, would go a long way to settling those type of concerns.

Other measures up for debate include schemes to encourage more women and people with disabilities to participate in the States, as well as addressing an indiscriminate law that prevents anyone who has served more than six months in prison in the five years before an election from standing, regardless of the crime they committed.

To conduct Guernsey’s first island-wide election for all States members amid a global pandemic which saw the election date shift, with new technology and the advent of political parties, with few complaints and a big turnout deserves credit.

The challenge now is to build on that.