Isle of Man Electoral Commission

Background

In September 2022 the first Electoral Commission for the Isle of Man was appointed under Section 57 of the Elections (Keys and Local Authorities) Act 2020.

Appointed at 10 year intervals, or at any other time if directed by Tynwald, each Electoral Commission must review the number and boundaries for House of Keys Constituencies and must also consider such matters relating to elections as a resolution of Tynwald directs.

In 2013 the previously appointed Boundary Committee were required under S11 (5) of The Representation of the People Act 1995 to make recommendations to Tynwald for the administration of a fair and transparent electoral process. The Boundary Committee recommended constituencies should be of

• Equal number of representatives
• Equivalent size of population
• Reviewed after every 2^nd Election

The recommendations of the Committee led to 12 equal constituencies being established, each represented by 2 Members of the House of Keys, with an average population of around 7,000 (subject to a variation of up to 15%.)  You can access these reports. The newly appointed Electoral Commission is required, via the Elections (Keys and Local Authorities) Act 2020 to consider afresh constituencies and boundaries; the number of members per constituency and whether population should be the sole guide to constituency size. The same legislation provides for the Commission to review other matters such as Tynwald directs.

Remit and Work of the Commission

At its sitting in July 2022 Tynwald agreed that

'In addition to reviewing the number and boundaries of constituencies (which will include the number of seats per constituency) the Electoral Commission must consider and produce a report to Tynwald on the following matters:

1. Accessibility of elections to voters;
2. The organisation of Pre-Election Meetings;
3. Postal voting procedures;
4. Proxy voting procedures;
5. Ability to vote at any polling station across a constituency;
6. The feasibility of setting up one or more 'All Island' Polling stations;
7. Candidate campaign materials;

In doing so, they shall have due regard to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures and to the potential costs of its recommendations.'

The members appointed to the 2022 Electoral Commission were:

• Sally Bolton (Chair)
• Nigel Davis
• Michelle Norman
• Karen Ramsay
• Peter Whiteway

Each Electoral Commission must report their findings and recommendations to Tynwald, within 18 months of their appointment. Full terms of reference can be seen within the downloadable documents section.

Who can you contact about Election matters

In accordance with Section 57 (8) of the Elections (Keys and Local Authorities) Act 2020, following the issue of their final report to Tynwald in March 2024, the 2022 Electoral Commission was dissolved.

If you have any queries or concerns about Election matters, in the first instance you can contact the Crown and Elections Team of the Cabinet Office by email: elections@gov.im or by telephone on + 44 1624 685741.

2022 Electoral Commission Members (L-R) ; P Whiteway, K Ramsay, M Norman; S.Bolton and N.Davis