Not voting in the referendum could be logical choice

Our government has decided there must be a 40 per cent minimum turnout of electors for the referendum to be binding. This seems to have slipped through the States without controversy. If there has been any concern anywhere it has been so little that the general public have missed it.

The purpose of the 40 per cent minimum is to prevent a major political upheaval happening on the authority of a small number of voters. The objective is good but the method bad. An apparently casual States decision has created a trap.

The official guidance booklet does give direction on many aspects and emphasises it is valid to select one choice only or up to five graded preferences. The booklet says nothing to warn the public of the implications of that 40 per cent minimum turnout requirement and even fails to mention it at all.

This referendum, with its concoction of multiple choices, transferable votes and 40 per cent minimum turnout, is a poll like no other that islanders have experienced. Voters will not know if their vote will serve to support their wishes or, by contributing to the turnout figure, may serve to support the exact opposite. There lies the trap. Not a word of this in the booklet purporting to explain everything.

In usual circumstances it is thoughtless, or lazy, or stupid, to boycott a poll on a serious matter. This IWV referendum is not usual at all. In this quite messy situation choosing to boycott the poll is as logical and sound as any other choice, perhaps more so.

HENRY LANCASTER,

Elsinore, Ville es Pies,

Vale.