First public Jersey referendum debate held

The public meeting was held at St Saviour's Parish Hall on Thursday

Jersey's first public referendum debate has been held at St Saviour's Parish Hall.

All three island referendum campaign groups attempted to convince undecided voters.

The referendum will define how many politicians there are in Jersey, how they are elected and the size of constituencies.

The three campaign groups are touring Jersey's parishes over the next week for a series of public debates.

The meetings will allow undecided voters to listen to the arguments for all the reform options and ask questions about the way the States could change.

Pre-poll voting started this week and people who cannot make it to their polling station on 24 April can also vote through the post.

The referendum choices include two options for change and one to maintain the status quo.

Option A will see 42 deputies elected from six large voting districts.

Option B will have 30 deputies elected from six districts and 12 parish constables.

Option C will maintain the status quo of eight senators elected island wide, 29 deputies in a range of constituency sizes and 12 parish constables.

The votes will be counted using an average voting system that allows second votes to be counted if a clear winner is not found in the first count.