As you probably already know,
Election day is Wednesday 16 May 2018.
But does your vote really matter?
The Island is living through interesting times. Many of the choices that States members must make will affect you and your daily life directly.
Think about it. GST, which levies 5% on everything you buy; the Island Plan, which will affect what you can do with your own house and land; a Register of names and addresses, which you will have to have your name on, and which all States departments will use; and new controls on housing and work. These are just a few examples of decisions which have been made that affect us all directly.
So how do we make sure we can influence the choices that States members make when they consider new laws and policy? The starting point is to make sure that the States members who make these decisions are the people who share your point of view, or who you think will represent you best.
You can only do this if you vote. Your vote gives you the power to make sure that the right people are put in the right place.
You have to be registered in order to vote. If you are 16 or over and have lived in Jersey for either the last 2 years, or for the last 6 months (but a total of 5 years previously) then you can vote in the election, irrespective of your nationality (See the flowchart on this page). You can register online at www.vote.je/register
WHY CAN’T I VOTE ONLINE?
Although you can register to vote online, it does not mean that you will be able to actually cast your vote online on election day. A lot of work needs to be done before the introduction of electronic voting, to ensure that the voting public and candidates can be confident of the integrity of the voting process.
YOU CAN VOTE BEFORE
ELECTION DAY
If you registered to vote before 9 April, you can vote before election day. Pre-poll voting is open at St Paul’s Gate in New Street, St Helier from 8.30am to 5.15pm Monday 30 April until 2pm on Monday 14 May (Closed Bank Holiday Monday 7 May and Liberation Day Wednesday 9 May).
There is also weekend pre-poll stations available for all Islanders at Trinity Youth Centre from 10am-1pm on Saturday 5 May 2and Communicare, St Brelade from 10am-1pm on Saturday 12 May 2018.
DON’T LET OTHERS CHOOSE FOR YOU
With or without your vote, States Members will be elected who have views on issues that affect you, so don’t let others choose them on your behalf. You can just vote for just one candidate if you wish.
All the election candidates and their manifestos are on
www.vote.je
