Guernsey goes to the polls today for the first by-election under the current fully island wide voting system.
There are 11 candidates for just one seat in the States.
They are Nikki Symons, Carl Meerveld, Ross Le Brun, Andrew Taylor, Sam Haskins, Stephen Rouxel, Rob Harnish, Luke Graham, Julie-Anne Headington, Jonathan Wilson, and Tamara Menteshvili who were nominated for the by-election in that order.
FOLLOW our live updates throughout today and tonight’s count HERE!
Voting
Anyone who is registered on the electoral roll can vote at any of the four ‘super polling stations that have been set up.
They will be open between 08:00 and 20:00 today at Beau Sejour, St Martin’s Parish Hall, Castel Douzaine Room, and Vale Douzaine Room.
Anyone who is registered for a postal vote but who hasn’t sent their ballot sheet back in yet can take them to any polling station today or they can be hand delivered through the Sir Charles Frossard House letter box before 20:00 today.
A postal vote can only be accepted at a polling station if it is in the return envelope and accompanied by the ID verification form that was in the postal voting packs sent out earlier this month.
The ballot sheet will list the 11 candidates’ names in alphabetical order with each voter having just one vote.
Candidates
The 11 candidates are all vying for just one seat in the States.
On the list are three former deputies, six former election candidates, and two ‘new candidates’ who have not previously stood for election under the current island wide or prior district systems.
Just one candidate is representing a political party.
Seven of the candidates were unsuccessful in the June 2025 election.
Former Deputy Andrew (Andy) Taylor stood down at the end of his term in office last summer, while fellow former deputies Carl Meerveld and Sam Haskins both lost their seats in the States at last June’s election.
Nikki Symons, Ross Le Brun, Rob Harnish, Luke Graham, and Tamara Menteshivili were also unsuccessful candidates last June.
Jonathan Wilson was unsuccessful in the 2020 island wide election.
The ‘new candidates’ are former Chamber of Commerce President and GADOC alumni Stephen Rouxel and the former owner of Channel Island Adjusters Julie-Anne Headington.
She is the only candidate representing a political party as a member of Forward Guernsey – which already has three deputies in the States.
Three of the candidates have been nominated by at least one former or current Deputy, with local business people, advocates, former police officers, and charity workers among those also signing the nomination forms last month.
The count
The polling stations will close at 20:00 tonight and all of the ballot sheets will be transported to Beau Sejour where they will be counted.
Express will be at the count and you’ll be able to follow the action with our live updates HERE!
The count will start tonight with a result expected between 23:00 and 01:00.
The ballot sheets will be scanned and votes counted electronically.
Turnout is widely predicted to be lower than at last summer’s general election, which saw nearly 20,000 people vote. More than 27,000 people had registered to vote giving a turnout of 73%.
The poll topper was Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez with 10,721 votes. Deputy Sarah Hansmann Rouxel came 38th with 5,4,58 votes.
By-election background
Today’s vote is the first time a by-election has been held on an island wide basis since a Conseiller seat was available in the 1990s.
That role was abolished in 2000, and the island stuck with a district voting system appointing ‘Peoples Deputies’ for the next 20 years.
In 2020 the first fully island wide election was held, and the second followed in 2025.
This by-election was sparked by Jonathan Le Tocq’s conviction and subsequent imprisonment.
His seat has been vacant since he was first arrested last July, just weeks after being re-elected to the States.
He resigned from the States in December after pleading guilty to a number of crimes for which he has since been jailed.