Polling stations across Guernsey are welcoming a “steady trickle” of voters wanting to have their say in the island’s second fully island election.
Express visited most polling stations before 11:00 with turnout so far reflective of the electoral roll with older voters more visible than younger ones.
St Sampson’s Junior Constable Joe Abbott was among those assisting voters at the parish Church rooms.
He told Express there has been a “steady trickle” of voters arriving to have their say all morning.
That was evident while Express was there as people continuously arrived and left – with some taking longer than others to cast their votes.
Dean of St Andrew’s Douzaine, Martin Thwaite is the parish Polling Station Officer today.
He said a small queue of about 10 people had already formed before it opened at 08:00 this morning.
Most of the people voting there have lived nearby he said, and others are using the polling station as a post office.
“Since then, it’s been steady and about a third of the people who have come in are bringing in their postal votes, we’ve noticed that,” he said.
Among those at St Andrew’s Douzaine this morning were the independent election observers that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has tasked with keeping an eye on things.
“I think they found it interesting,” said Mr Thwaite.
“They sat outside waiting for the doors to open, they were in the line with the voters, which was interesting. They came inside and had a look and thought it quite quaint really, but it’s the same process as you get at the bigger (elections). They saw it from a different side, you know from a small local polling station.”
Some voters spoken to by Express said they had not used all of their votes either because they had found that 82 candidates was too many to choose between or because they hadn’t found 38 that they wanted to vote for.
Rosalind Bell-Smith cast her votes at Beau Sejour this morning.
She used nearly all of her votes, having been impressed by some of the candidates.
“I used 33 of my votes, I think it looked pretty good, to be honest. There were a few that didn’t quite make the grade for me, but most of them, I thought, were quite good, hopefully, fingers crossed. I had to read the manifestos really well, but to make it easier we broke it up as a family to some extent, and discussed it.”
Policy wise, both Mrs Bell-Smith and Derek Smith felt housing was the key issue at this election.
“Housing and education is very important to both of us. I used to be a teacher, and I think that children are being failed at the moment, although our son actually works in education and his school seems to be very good, so that’s not across the board. But you know, children, education and housing is the main things that I think we should be dealing with.”
Also voting at Beau Sejour was Mary Elizabeth Ogier who said it had been difficult to decide who to vote for.
“I think the calibre of candidates are pretty good from I see, we can only learn from the information about them, from the information that we’re providing, so it is difficult to make that full judgement. “
In St Andrew’s a queue started to form as voters used the parish Douzaine room to have their say.
One voter said they had found the process “easy”.
“I’ve got my names, (on a paper list), although I do know who I haven’t voted for!”
At the Castel Douzaine voters were concerned about the States finances, among other topics.
“They need to find the money, it’s all well and good having these vanity projects that require millions….but where are those millions?”
One elderly gentleman was pleased when he left the Castel Douzaine, having been able to use all 38 of his votes.
“All 38! I got to 35, and thought ah well, I’ll fill in the spots!” he cried out.
Another couple of voters who left agreed with each other that choosing 38 people to vote for out of 82 candidates was not as good as the old voting systems.
“All good…a little ridiculous!” they said. “They need to go back to how it was! Get to know them better.”
Faye Langlois was voting in St Martin’s this morning.
She was impressed with the calibre of candidates and she’s hopeful that the new States can work well together.
“I felt like it was a really good calibre. I feel like there’s a lot of newcomers this year, which is fab, because we need a bit of new blood in and possibly new ideas.
“I think we’ve kind of stayed a bit stagnant for the last four years. So actually, we need a bit of a switch up and a bit of change around.”
Ms Langlois didn’t use all of her 38 votes but still felt it was important to support those she does want in the next States.
“I didn’t (use all 38 votes). No, I couldn’t get there. I personally feel like 38 is too many. I’ve looked at it, and I feel like even if we cut (the number of deputies) by 10, we could be saving over the term around £1.6 million, and that would still give a really good calibre of candidates across the board.
“I’ve got four young children, so I’m quite invested in it and I really feel like now is the time to start having our voices heard, and being able to put across what our thoughts are. If you haven’t voted, you can’t really stand in any real stead to complain about things, and actually it’s us at this point, we need to start getting traction and getting things changed and getting things moved and getting things done and creating a future for our children to be able to live in Guernsey, in a beautiful place that I was so fortunate to be raised in. And it feels really sad that it’s kind of going downhill a little bit.”
Polling stations are open until 20:00 on Wednesday 18 June.
The count will start at 08:30 on Thursday 19 June at Beau Sejour. The results are expected to be declared during Thursday evening/night.