Referendum on the States Assembly composition

What was the result of the referendum?

Voters chose Option B from the three options in the referendum:

parish Constables continue to be members of the States
the number of States members fall from 49 to 42: 30 Deputies and 12 parish Constables
six large electoral districts, each choosing five Deputies

Under Option B proposals, which are not binding, St Helier would be divided into two districts, and other parishes would join together to make new electoral districts. Every voter would cast six votes for States members: for five Deputies within their electoral district, and for their parish Constable.

How was the result reached?

Across the Island, 16,624 people - 26% of registered voters - cast their vote for one of the three options.

In the first round of the ballot:

39.59% voted for Option A
40.93% voted for Option B
19.48% voted for Option C

Because none of the options received more than half the votes cast, the ballot papers from Option C (which received the fewest votes across the Island) were re-distributed between Option A and Option B where voters had indicated a second choice on their ballot paper.

With Option C's ballot papers re-distributed:

6,707 votes were cast for Option A
8,190 votes were cast for Option B

First round by parish

Parish	Option A	Option B	Option C	Spoilt paper
Grouville	475	562	264	9
St Brelade	956	957	377	31
St Clement	728	695	253	9
St Helier	1,760	932	452	30
St John	179	348	169	4
St Lawrence	396	434	259	12
St Martin	286	551	236	11
St Mary	124	192	165	2
St Ouen	280	505	272	12
St Peter	341	486	225	10
St Saviour	857	749	318	20
Trinity	199	393	249	5
TOTAL	6,581	6,804	3,239	155

Second round by parish (with second choices added)

Parish	Second Preference			Final total
	Option A	Option B	None	Option A	Option B
Grouville	7	148	109	482	710
St Brelade	22	152	203	978	1,109
St Clement	0	141	112	728	836
St Helier	40	154	258	1,800	1,086
St John	5	82	82	184	430
St Lawrence	12	113	134	408	547
St Martin	6	107	123	292	658
St Mary	4	48	113	128	240
St Ouen	7	121	144	287	626
St Peter	4	89	132	345	575
St Saviour	14	123	181	871	872
Trinity	5	108	136	204	501
TOTAL	126	1,386	1,727	6,707	8,190

What were the other options?

The Electoral Commission set out two possible options for reform, Option A and Option B in the referendum. Voters were also offered Option C, which was for no change.

Option A

Under Option A:

parish Constables would no longer have been members of the States
there would have been 42 States members, known as Deputies
there would have been six large districts, each choosing seven Deputies

Option C

Under Option C the current system agreed for 2014 would have remained. There would have been 49 States members:

8 Senators elected Island-wide
29 Deputies elected in constituencies
12 parish Constables

Under Option C the Senators would have continued with an Island-wide mandate and would have been elected for the same period of time as Deputies and Constables.

Constables and Deputies would have been elected on a parish basis, as before.