Extent: Jersey
Updated 20 May 2010 
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1. Senatorial elections are held every three years,  in October. Senators are elected for a term of six years. Six out of the twelve seats for Senators are contested every three years.

Deputies elections are held every three years, in October. Deputies are elected for a term of three years. All Deputies seats are contested every three years.

Constables are elected every three years in October.

By-elections are held when a States member resigns, dies, is removed from office, or is elected to another office in mid-term, for example a Deputy may be elected Senator before the end of her/his term, resulting in a by-election for Deputy.

2. Centeniers, and Honorary Officers are elected for a term of three years, and these elections can be held in any month.

Who may stand for election to the States

3. Any person who:

• is twenty-one years of age before the date of the election and
• is a British subject who has been ordinarily resident in the Island two years prior to the date of the election or has been ordinarily resident for a period of 6 months prior to the date of the election and has been ordinarily resident in Jersey for an additional period of, or periods that total, at least 5 years.

Disqualification for Office

Any person who:

• holds any paid office or other place of profit under the Crown;
• is a member of the States of Jersey Police Force;
• is compulsorily detained or subject to a guardianship order under the Mental Health (Jersey) Law 1969;
• has a curator of his or her person or property;
• has an attorney without whom he or she may not act in matters movable or immovable;
• has become bankrupt or made a composition or arrangement with his or her creditors;
• has been convicted of an offence under the Corruption (Jersey) Law 2006 by virtue of that person being, within the meaning of that Law, a public official or a member, officer or employee of a public body;
• or within the 7 years prior to, or since his or her election, has been convicted, whether in Jersey or elsewhere, of any offence and ordered to be imprisoned for a period of not less than 3 months, without the option of a fine.

Who may stand for election as Constable, Centenier, or other Honorary Officer of a Parish

4. Any person who is a British subject having attained the age of twenty and not being older than sixty-nine years on the date of the nomination. A person can only qualify for office, if they are an elector of the Parish, a ratepayer (more than fifty quarters) or are a Mandataire for a company (this only applies to the Parish of St Helier)

Nomination papers

5. Nomination papers for Senatorial and Deputies elections are obtainable from the States Greffe. They require completion with the names of the Proposer, Seconder and eight other electors all whose names must appear on the Electoral Register, see para 8

6. Nomination papers for Constables or Centeniers elections are obtainable from the appropriate Parish Hall. They require completion with the names of the Proposer, Seconder and eight other electors whose names appear on the Electoral Register of their Parish, see para 8.

Who is entitled to vote in Jersey

7. Any person whose name appears on the Electoral Register may vote in public elections in Jersey.

The Electoral Register

8. Under the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002, Article 5

• the person is at least 16 years old;
• the person is ordinarily resident in that electoral district:
  
• and the person has been:-

• ordinarily resident in the Island for a period of at least two years up to and including that day; or
• ordinarily resident in the Island for a period of at least six months up to and including that day, as well as having been ordinarily resident in the Island at any time for an additional period of, or for additional periods that total, at least five years.
• 
  

Disqualification
 
• A convicted person during the time that s/he is detained in a prison or other penal institute is legally incapable of voting at a public election

Registration on the Electoral Register

9. Application forms are sent to every unit of dwelling accommodation by the Constable of the Parish. These should be completed to include every resident of the property who is over the age of eighteen years. The forms should be returned to the Parish Hall by a date advertised in the Jersey Gazette by the Constable. Each Constable is required to prepare by September, a separate electoral register for each electoral district in the Parish.

10. The Draft Electoral Register compiled by the Parish from these returns is available for public inspection in the Parish Halls. A person may only vote in a public election if their name appears on the relevant electoral register.

11. People whose names have not been included can ask for them to be added at any time if they fulfil the requirements to be eligible to vote. Incorrect information can be amended at this time also.

Failure to complete and return the Electoral Register Franchise form

12. The penalty for not completing and returning the form can be a £500 fine. It is, however, very rare for prosecutions to be brought as it is difficult to prove that the parishioner did not attempt to deliver the completed form (eg it may have been lost in the post). The last prosecution in St Helier was in 1984.

Where do you vote

13. In the case of Parish elections for Constable or Centenier the polling station is normally the Parish Hall.

14. In public elections to the States polling stations will be set up in the electoral districts in the larger parishes, and voters must attend the station appropriate to the electoral district in which they live. See 7.3.1.L1 for electoral districts.

Postal votes

15. Any elector entitled to vote at an election but who is unable to attend the polling station on polling day because:

• they will be, or are likely to be out of the Island or
• they are suffering from a physical illness or disability

may make application to the Judicial Greffier for her/his name to be added to the Register of Postal Voters

16. A separate application must be made by each elector, and these must:

• be in writing and be signed by the elector personally
• give the elector's full name and address as listed in the relevant Parish Electoral Register, and current address, if different from that on the list, to which the ballot paper will be sent
• either state the dates, or probable dates, of the elector's absence from the Island, or be accompanied by a recent medical certificate giving the reason for the elector's inability to attend the polling station.

18. An elector whose application to vote by post has been granted is disqualified from voting in person.

19. An application form, to be sent to the Judicial Greffe, is also available fromt Parish Halls, which saves the applicant composing a letter containing the necessary information.