THE number who voted in Wednesday’s general election was 778 down on four years ago.
Out of the 33,201 on the electoral roll there were 18,576 voters, a 56% turnout compared with 60% four years ago.
Turnout was down in all districts, with West faring best with only a 3.9% decline from 64%, whereas the South-East plunged from 69% in 2004 to 57%.
Deputy registrar-general of electors Brian Richings said that despite the controversy surrounding the electoral roll, the number of recorded errors in the election process had fallen compared with previous years. In 2000, the last time the electoral roll was rolled over, more than 100 mistakes were recorded.
‘We haven’t done the exact figures, but the number of errors is lower than 2004 and much lower than 2000.
‘The difference this year was the court enabled us to put these errors right so everyone who had made an application got their vote.
‘This meant that on the day 47 people were able to vote who would not have been able to in previous years, thanks to the action we took.
‘But of course we will be looking at the process. The fact of the matter is, though, no matter where you are in the world, you can never guarantee that an electoral roll will be 100%.’
Mr Richings said it would be impossible to establish how many were on the roll who should not have been.
‘A new roll is only good and totally accurate on the day it is compiled.’
For example, he said, people who left the island and then died would not have had their details deleted, while people who had moved districts and not completed the appropriate form could well have ended up being registered in two districts.
Mr Richings said the review of the election process would take about a year, but possible solutions to the problems were already being looked into.
* Out of 1,537 postal votes sent out prior to the election, 1,385 – 90.2% – came back, most from Guernsey and Herm.
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