Select a region
There are only a few days left to get on the electoral register for islanders wishing to vote early in this year's elections.
A pre-poll voting station will be open in St. Helier for anyone who wants to vote in the two weeks leading up to election day, but islanders have to register by Monday if they want to be able to use it.
Deputy Greffier Lisa Hart said: “If it is easier and more convenient for you to vote earlier than 16 May 2018, you don’t need a specific reason. You can simply go to the pre-poll station in town during the working week or one of the out of town venues on Saturday 5 or Saturday 12 May.
“We all lead busy lives and it’s not always easy to get to your Parish Hall or district polling station on election day. Pre-poll allows everyone to vote in one place. No matter where you live you can vote at St. Paul’s before 16 May if that suits you better – but you need to be registered before 9 April!”
Pictured: Pre-polling will be open at St. Paul's Gate in New Street from 30 April to 14 May. (Google Maps)
Islanders of all nationalities, who are 16 or over and have lived in Jersey for either the last two years, or the last six months (plus any other periods totalling five years), can register to vote in the election. An online application was recently launched to help make the registration process easier for islanders. The online register is accessible on the My Parish Online website or through a link on vote.je.
Pre-polling for all islanders will be open at St. Paul’s Gate in New Street, St. Helier from 08:30 to 17:15 from 30 April to 14 May (closing at 14:00). It will closed on Bank Holiday Monday 7 May and Liberation Day.
Weekend pre-poll stations will also be available for all islanders at Trinity Youth Centre from 10:00 to 13:00 on 5 May and Communicare, St. Brelade from 10:00 to 13:00 on 12 May.
Whether choosing to vote early or on Election Day, islanders will also now be able to benefit from a new website designed to give them easy access to States members' attendance and voting patterns. TheyWorkForYou - as the website is known - also includes each serving politicians' contact details, previous manifesto, and brief summary of their election history.
The website was inspired by the one launched by non-profit organisation mySociety in 2004. The Jersey version of the website was developed by the second 2017 cohort of students enrolled in a part-time vocational six-month coding programme run by Digital Jersey.
Pictured: The Chief Minister's, Senator Ian Gorst's page on TheyWorkForYou.
Gailina Liew, Director of the Jersey Policy Forum, commented: “We congratulate the students who were able to learn how to code and successfully create this website in just six months and are delighted to have been invited to manage and support the ongoing development of the website in collaboration with Digital Jersey, The Infuse Group and the States Greffe. This collaboration reflects a common objective to encourage greater civic engagement by making information about Jersey’s elected representatives more easily accessible.”
Digital Jersey’s CEO, Tony Moretta, said: “The website is an excellent example of how our coding course students can create something of value to the island, while also learning new skills. The course has a high success rate for getting much needed developers into the industry and this website project shows the professional level of the teaching and their resulting work. The course is aimed at helping people to transition into our growing digital economy and takes people from diverse backgrounds and education. I’m delighted that the Jersey Policy Forum is taking this project forward.”
Mark Egan, Greffier of the States, commended the students "for their initiative and hard work." "This is a terrific example of how technology can be used with open data to provide easier access to information that is already in the public domain," he added.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.