12 September 2006
29 July 2005
A major new campaign encouraging Islanders to add their names to the electoral register and vote in this year’s States elections will be launched on Monday.
The campaign is being led by the Voter Registration Steering Group, which has been set up by the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC). The campaign will support Aim 8 of the Strategic Plan, ‘to reconnect the public and the States of Jersey’. The Plan states that, ‘The division that exists between the States of Jersey and the Jersey public is most evident in the low voter turnout at local elections’. The Strategic Plan was agreed by all States members in May 2004 and commits the government to increasing voter turnout as a measure of success.
PPC is working with local marketing and design agency Image to produce a multi-media campaign to increase the number of people eligible to vote in this autumn’s elections and raise awareness about the importance of voting. The Island-wide Senatorial election takes place on 19 October and is followed by elections for Parish Deputies on 23 November. A follow-on campaign focusing specifically on encouraging Islanders to vote is likely to be launched closer to the dates of the elections.
The voter registration campaign is interactive and is designed to take information to Island residents. Public sector staff have volunteered to man a mobile voter registration centre that will be based at various popular outdoor events this summer, and in other busy locations like the centre of town.
The States Statistics Unit has estimated that approximately 68,000 adult islanders should be eligible to vote based upon data from the 2001 census. In March 2004 (the last time an election was held in the Jersey) 48,671 people had registered to vote, only 71.5 per cent of those eligible.
A website will also be launched – www.vote.je – which has information about registration and voting and from which a registration form can be downloaded. It contains translations in Portuguese and Polish.
ENDS
For more information, please contact: Katie Le Quesne, Policy and Resources Communications Unit. Telephone 603430
Notes to editors
1) Members of the Voter Registration Steering Committee:
Deputy Peter Troy (Chairman), Senator Philip Ozouf, Constable Derek Grey, Michael de la Haye, Katie Le Quesne.
2) Media launch plan
8:45 am – Members of the design agency and Voter Registration Steering Committee will present examples of the marketing material as well as explaining the mechanics of the campaign.
9:15 am – The mobile voter registration centre will be set up in King Street. Politicians will be available for photography, filming and interview opportunities.
gov.je