Thursday 28 November 2019
The Registrar-General of Electors is in discussion with Law Officers on how to resolve difficulties that have been highlighted in the elections that some parishes had intended to hold in December.
The Reform (Guernsey) Law 1948, as amended, requires parishes to hold elections on specified days in November.
However some parishes were not able to stage these elections in November and had hoped to hold them in December instead. The Reform Law does not allow for such elections to be held in December. Furthermore, the current electoral roll will close at the end of this month, before a new electoral roll is opened ahead of the 2020 General Election. The timing of the closure of the electoral roll was set for the end of November in order to allow parishes the appropriate time to conclude their own elections.
Discussions are taking place to find a solution, which will likely require an Ordinance that would make a new date available to parishes for their elections. The Registrar-General of Electors will keep parishes and their voters updated as progress is made.