When do I have to make my decision?

As soon as possible!

You have until 21 August 2020 to register on the electoral roll. If you don’t register, you won’t be eligible to stand.

The timeframe for the Election itself is set out on the Election website. You need to know that nominations open on Tuesday 1 September and close at 4pm (four o’clock in the afternoon, for the avoidance of any doubt!) on Friday 4 September. If you want to be a candidate in the 2020 Election, you need to get your nomination in during that short window.

There are some important things you need to get ready before nominations even open. You need to have a proposer and seconder who are willing to put you forward as a candidate. And you need to have prepared your manifesto – especially the bit that goes in the combined manifesto booklet, because you’ll be asked to provide that straight away. (Keep an eye on the Election website for guidance so that you know what to prepare.)

And then you need to hit the ground running. Election Day is on 7 October. Advance polling will open from 3 October. People who are using postal votes might fill out their votes even earlier than that. So you need to be ready to start getting your message out to people from the start of the campaign period, with plenty of time for them to find out more and make up their mind to support you.

If you’re interested in standing, but haven’t quite made up your mind yet, I would be more than happy to meet up for a coffee and talk it over with you, if you’d like to get in touch. I’m sure other Deputies would be just as happy to do so.

Go back to Getting Into Guernsey Politics
Go back to Section 1.1: Making the Decision
Register to Vote

Before we start: Register to Vote

You have until Friday 21 August, 2020 to get yourself on the Guernsey Electoral Roll.

You can sign up to the Electoral Roll at election2020.gg . If you have any problems with the online form, you can get in touch with the team here and they will do what they can to help you.

You must sign up again, even if you have been on the Electoral Roll for past elections. If you don’t sign up, you won’t be allowed to vote in the 2020 Election, and you won’t be allowed to stand as a candidate.

Please don’t leave it until the last minute!

You will be able to vote for up to 38 candidates in this Election – our first experience of Island-Wide Voting. In past Elections, you only had 5 or 6 votes. This is a big change – it means a lot more manifestos to read, a lot more candidates to consider, and possibly a lot more time spent deciding who you want to vote for.

This means we are trying to offer more options for the way you cast your vote, to give you the time and space you need.

You’ll have the option of voting in your parish on Election Day, just like you’ve always done. Or you might want to vote at an island-wide “Super Polling Station” closer to your workplace or school, if that is more convenient for you.

If you would prefer, you can vote at an “Advance Polling Station” before Election Day (at the weekend and on the Tuesday before the final Election Day on the Wednesday). Or you can sign up for a postal vote, fill it out at home, and send it or drop it back in.

You can get in touch with the Electoral Roll team to request a postal vote, even if you didn’t ask for one when you originally signed up to the Roll.

More information about polling station venues and voting options will be available on election2020.gg. If we need to take any special measures because of COVID-19, closer to Election time, election2020.gg will also be the place to look for information about that.

If you don’t sign up to the Electoral Roll, you don’t have a vote and you don’t have a right to stand in the Election.

Please encourage your friends and family to sign up to the Electoral Roll if they haven’t yet done so.

And please register to vote today.   

Go back to Getting Into Guernsey Politics
Go back to Section 1.1: Making the Decision
Register to Vote