Jersey Reform Day.
This site is dedicated to the day, now officially recognised annually by the States of Jersey, to mark the anniversary of the events of 28 September 1769.
Jersey's own Independence or Bastille Day.
Ever since 24 April 2013 the PRT - Post Referendum Trauma - has been evident among some States Members but there is remarkably little enthusiasm for the resulting "Option B victory" anywhere in the Island.
Even Senator Bailhache seems to have found more Godly pursuits to occupy his attention.
Whether the "Option A Team" will regroup to continue the campaign has yet to be seen but in the meantime Senator Lyndon Farnham is continuing to resist the "B" outcome.
Here with fellow supporter Deputy John Le Fondre he explains current thinking.
Two videos.
Top video recorded today - Senator Farnham expresses his views on the Electoral Commission proposals.
Lower video - recorded during the Senatorial Elections - Lyndon Farnham's election address.
His remarks on the role of Senators etc occur at about 2.5 minutes into this recording.
Nothing much more to say here, the Senator speaks clearly enough.
But the defects in the EC proposals are becoming ever more visibly flawed.
How many States Members will decide to dump the Constables from the States - with or without a public "mandate" - before this reaches the referendum stage?
Following the Trinity Electoral Commission meeting these two videos have been added to this post.
Commission members Dr Renouf (of BBC Newsnight fame) and Constable Gallichan offer their words of wisdom on the role of Senators as seen by the Commission and on "apples and pears" as seen by the Commission and Constable Gallichan in particular.
For some reason Ms Gallichan and I cannot agree why it is unfair (in my view) to divide the Island up into 6 "super constituencies" of 12,000 voters each yet allow them to elect 5 "deputies" each (OK) but different numbers of Constables.
According to Plan B of the Commission, if Constables remain in the States, St Helier will be divided into 2 "super constituencies" (St H No1 and St H No2) of 12,000 voters each but will return 5 Deputies each and only 1 Constable (ie half to each).
On the other hand the "country parishes" will be grouped together into four conglomerate "super parishes"- St Clement, Grouville and St Martin (5 Deputies plus 3 Constables) - St Lawrence, St John, St Mary and St Ouen (5 Deputies plus 4 Constables) - St Brelade and St Peter (5 Deputies plus 2 Constables) - St Saviour and Trinity (5 Deputies plus 2 Constables).
I must be crazy but according to my seaweed fuelled calculator this means that 12,000 voters in the St Lawrence/St Mary etc super constituency will return 5 plus 4 = 9 states members in total whereas the 12,000 voters of St H No1 (or No2) will only return 5 plus a half Constable.
The other country parishes are also joined together so that they will each have either 7 or 8 elected representatives in the States. The residents of St Helier No1 and 2 will be totally out-gunned in the States.
I cannot see how that is fair and it will make the north-south democratic divide even more in favour of the super-privileged and socially favoured "country parishes" against the town parish of St Helier.
Obviously, the simple solution is NOT to allow Constables to remain in the States and to adopt Plan A of the two only options offered by the Commission. That is 6 super "constituencies" of 7 elected Deputies.
My other concern (answered here only by Constable Gallichan again - not Mr Renouf) is about the 20,000 people with housing and work quals who live outside Jersey but for the most part do not have the right to vote here at all. Clearly this number is far in excess of the 12,000 in "super constituencies" now proposed by the Commission - but whilst people all over the world can vote in their "own country" elections if they live somewhere else, this is not allowed in Jersey.
Of course "housing quals" is the nearest Jersey has to the concept of nationality but since it is now possible for foreign nationals to vote in Jersey after just two years residence and it is likely that they will be able to stand for election on that basis soon too - why cannot those non-residents with quals vote at all?
If prisoners at La Moye also gain the vote soon, the Gallichan stance against non-resident voters must be seen as absurd. Obviously, another 20,000 potential voters will be very worrying to those who want to retain a strict control on Jersey democracy!
