States members vote to delay Guernsey Election until June 2021

An amendment to delay Guernsey's first island-wide election until June 2021 has been passed.

The decision to delay voting from June 2020 for a year has been made in light of the impact of coronavirus on the island.

During the States' first virtual meeting held over video calls, the amendment laid down by Deputy Le Tocq and Deputy Brouard passed with 22 votes to 15, with two abstentions.

It called for the new general election date to be on 16 June 2021.

Seven amendments were laid against to States' Assembly & Constitution Committee's original proposal postpone the election until October 2020.

Arguments made against an October election date ranged from not enough time to plan in the midst of ongoing uncertainty, to the time of sunrise and sunset in the winter months and its impact on voter behaviour.