Policy Brief on 2026 election published

The Policy Centre has published a comprehensive brief on the 2026 General Election. The Brief explains election law, reviews initiatives to increase turnout and describes the arrangements for the elections of 12 constables, 9 senators and 28 deputies. The Brief notes that the necessary legislation to provide for the reinstatement of senators has not yet been drafted. The Brief will be updated when new information becomes available.

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The summary of the Brief is set out below.

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The Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 governs the conduct of elections. There will be some amendments to the law before the 2026 Election.

The Jersey Electoral Authority and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Observer Mission produced reports on the 2022 election. Some of the recommendations have been implemented. The decision to reinstate senators so close to the date of the election is directly contrary to one of the recommendations of the CPA mission and also established best practice on the conduct of elections.

Jersey has an exceptionally low level of election turnout. Two initiatives have been proposed for the 2026 election with the objective of increasing turnout but do not address the fundamental reasons why people choose not to vote.

The 2026 General Election will be held for the first time on a Sunday, 7 June. It is hoped that this will increase turnout.

Proposals were put to the Assembly to introduce a system whereby electors are automatically registered. This would increase the size of the electorate but probably reduce the proportion who vote. However, the Assembly voted to “refer back” the proposals, which means they are unlikely to be implemented.

Unusually for a national parliament the Assembly has decided that Jersey voters will elect three separate categories of member –

• 12 constables, one for each of the 12 parishes
• 9 senators elected on an Island-wide basis
• 28 deputies elected in districts based on the parishes

Constables have significant responsibility for their parishes as well as their duties in the Assembly. In previous elections a number of constables have been elected unopposed. Where a candidate is not opposed electors can vote for “none of the above”. The use of “paper candidates” can avoid the reputation damage to a constable that occurs when “none of the above” applies.

The position of senator was abolished for the 2022 election but the Assembly has decided that the position will be reintroduced for 2026, although the necessary legislation has not yet been drafted. The election will be on the first-past-the-post system which lends itself to electors “plumping” for their favourite candidates. In the 2018 senatorial election on average voters used only 5.7 of their eight votes.

To accommodate the nine additional senators the Assembly decided that the number of deputies should be reduced from 37 to 28, one deputy being removed from each electoral district. This has a significant effect on the fairness of the electoral system. Grouville/St Martin in particular will be significantly under-represented.

Following the election it will be for the members of the Assembly to elect a Chief Minister and for the Chief Minister then to nominate to the Assembly candidates for the Council of Ministers.

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