Jersey Election 2026: Understanding the Turnout Figures

Provisional estimates by the Policy Centre Jersey, the Island’s independent think tank, are that turnout at the election was 32%, a ten-percentage point decline on the 2022 figure of 42%. However, the decline was caused by the introduction of automatic registration of voters. The following table shows the position.  For comparison the 2025 Guernsey election figures are shown.

Table 1 – Turnout, 2022 and 2026 compared

The number of registered voters increased by 40%, 24,100, compared with 2022. The number of people who voted increased by 7%, 2,200, but the higher number of registered voters meant that the published turnout figure fell by 10 percentage points.

In all the international league tables Jersey’s figure will be 32% and Guernsey’s more than double that at 72%.  But on a comparable basis (voters/eligible voters) the proportions are much closer – 32% in Jersey and 40% in Guernsey.

There was a substantial variation in turnout figures between the parishes, from 52.6% in St Mary to just 21.9% in St Helier.  This repeats the pattern in earlier elections – much higher turnout in the country parishes than in the more urban parishes.

Commenting on the figures, Jenny Bevis, Director of the Policy Centre Jersey, said,

“Automatic registration ensured that almost everyone who was entitled to vote was on the electoral register. However, a consequence of this is that people who have no intention of voting are included in the size of the electorate, which deflates the turnout figure. So, Jersey’s official turnout rate is 32%, well below that of all OECD countries.

Despite a range of initiatives to encourage participation, turnout levels have remained relatively unchanged”

The Policy Centre will shortly publish a comprehensive Policy Brief on the election, bringing together relevant available data, particularly on turnout.