Time for Action re: the Electoral Commision

Friends and comrades,

In many of my previous blogs on the subject of the Electoral Commission I have alluded to the fact that direct action from an organised population is what is needed to ensure that the Establishment does not destroy what hopes we have for a proper democracy in Jersey. Now that the Commission has been officially set up and is now meeting, it is the time to begin our "write-ins" to place on the pressure.

It is simply inconceivable that a Commission could attempt to assess the value of certain categories of States Member without doing an effective investigation into the amount of works different members actually do. How could someone suggest removing one type of States Member in favour of another that is proven to not work as hard? It is therefore vital that we pressure the Commission to do what it should be doing already, and have this investigation.

The inevitable result of such a report would be an overwhelming finding that the Constables do not pull their weight as States Members, and so they are the States Members that should be gotten rid of, rather than the Deputies, in the proposed reduction in numbers.

Like my previous draft letter I posted some months ago, former Deputy Wimberley has drafted a letter that we can simply copy and paste and send on directly to the Electoral Commission. If they receive enough submissions they will have to do such a report, and if they don't (or if they do and then subsequently ignore it's findings) we will have an excellent reason to appeal the decision at a higher level and have it sent to the UK to examine.

Here is Daniels statement and draft letter.

PLEASE comrades, send this letter, it only takes 2 minutes! And show all of your friends and family and get them involved to!

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The Electoral Commission may be non-independent, it may have been stripped of half of its Terms of Reference, and Sir Phillip Bailhache may have even been on the selection panel for the “independent” members of the Commission, BUT there is still one thing that we can all do, to stop the whole thing being a total disaster, according to Daniel Wimberley.

Daniel, who steered the original Commission through the States, only to watch it being dismembered by Privileges and Procedures, has sent us the text of a letter which he says we should all send in to the Commission.

Please pass this on to all your friends and colleagues who you know might be interested in taking this action.

And please do it!

OR

See what you think . ...

……………………………………………………..

Here is Daniel’s suggestion: 

Write a letter to the Electoral Commission immediately. A sample letter is below. Copy it, alter it to taste, or write your own, and post it or email it to the addresses given.

 
The letter demands that the Commission carries out research into the work done by the three classes of States member: - Constables, Deputies and Senators, and then publishes its results. Why? Because this will reveal the truth about who does the work in the States, and who take the money and do – not a lot! 

If enough of us demand that it be carried out, then they will look very foolish indeed if they do not. But you can be absolutely sure that they will do everything in their power NOT to do it. Why? Because it would reveal, officially, and on the record, that the Constables do not earn their keep as States members. 

I know that this is so, and you may suspect that this is so, but it is quite another thing for the Commission to do its own research into this, and publish the results. 

How can the Commission refuse this demand? They probably will, in which case, when you get their reply, do not take it lying down!! Write back. Demand a proper explanation.
Please ONLY take this action if you are a registered voter, OR explain why you are sending the letter if you are not. 

Please let Daniel know at jerseycycletours@hotmail.com that you have sent it. “I absolutely promise that all that I will do with those emails is keep score. I will not use them for any purpose that is not directly connected with this campaign letter.” – Daniel 

Please put “Electoral Commission letter” or similar in the subject line. 

Remember, a lot of what is wrong in the States is down to the Constables sitting there as of right. Sir Philip wants to keep them there. This is the only way that I can see of raising the question in the public’s mind and creating a real debate about whether or not they should actually be there at all. 

Not to mention the fact that they are (mostly) not elected, that they are police officers, that they have two jobs and cannot do both properly. Have I missed anything?



Daniel Wimberley



POSSIBLE LETTER

……………………………………..

Dear Commissioners

Or

Dear Chairman of the Electoral Commission

Or

Dear Sir Philip,

I am writing to ask that the Electoral Commission does research to establish the work actually done by the different classes of member: 

How many propositions of substance;
How many written Questions?
How many oral Questions?
How many supplementary Questions in oral question time?
How many contributions to debates (excluding mere interjections)
How many Scrutiny reports have different classes of member actively worked on?
How many serve as Ministers or Assistant Ministers?
What other work is carried out?
etc.

The reason I ask is that I never seem to read in the JEP of proposals brought to the States by Constables. They never seem to be taking the lead in Scrutiny. The reports of questions rarely feature their names. Very few were or are Ministers.

It is obviously vitally important for the review of the composition of the States that you find out the truth on this. Only with this information can an informed view be taken.

I also request that you publish the results quickly, (especially as it is not a difficult piece of research to do) in time for further debate and analysis to take place amongst the public.

Yours faithfully,

(signed) ……………………



And email to ec@gov.je, perhaps with “Electoral Commission” as the subject line.

Or if sending a letter use the address below which matches how you started your letter!



The Electoral Commission

c/o States Greffe

Morier House

Halkett Street

St. Helier

JE1 1DD



Or



The Chairman of the Electoral Commission

c/o States Greffe

Morier House

Halkett Street

St. Helier

JE1 1DD





Or



Sir Philip Bailhache,

Chairman of the Electoral Commission

c/o States Greffe

Morier House

Halkett Street

St. Helier

JE1 1DD