States Attendance Statistics: Not Present for Vote

At the start of a States Assembly, the roll call is completed, at which time a Member may be declared ‘absent de l’Île’ if out of the Island on States business, ‘excused’ if they have a valid reason for absence (such as a hospital appointment), ‘malade’ if ill and another Member swears that attending the Assembly would exacerbate their ill health, or declared ‘en défaut’ (in default) by the Bailiff if they are not present and do not have a valid reason. 

I've been looking back over the period from 2015 - the year after the autumn elections of 2014, past 2016 and 2017 to the end of January 2018. There were around 559 votes on propositions and amendments in that period. 

It is important to note that a proposition may have a number of amendments, which are voted on separately and most often have speeches in favour and against. The figure of 559 includes both propositions and amendments. 

En default in these statistics is given to propositions as well as roll call. The raw data does not in fact contain the roll call but only the votes, so it is possible for someone to be late - en default - but get in before voting takes place, in which usually a request is made and granted for the default to be lifted.

Not present for vote is precisely that. It does not include excused, out of island on State's business, or sickness - which are other reasons for not being in the Chamber. It means that when the vote was taken, the member was not there. 

There may well be reasons for not being present, and I'll gladly detail them in a future blog if anyone gets in touch with me. My sole concern is to present the data, and to glean explanations.  It is up to those in the high numbers to contact me. I am happy to put explanations up without comment or spin. 

On a personal level,  there are some people who I admire and would and will vote for who seem to have a depressingly high level of absenteeism, while some I would not vote for have a very low level.  

Absenteeism is not the only story to be told: how much members took the COM line is something I will return to when I have more time and that will be the subject of a future blog.

As a vote is counted as "en default" in the absence of a member not present at roll call, "not present" has been combined to give a joint absentee record. The percentage is the percent of the total column divided by 559.

Not Present for Vote	Not Pres.	En Default	Total	Percent
Philip Francis Cyril Ozouf	135	13	148	26.48%
Alan Simon Crowcroft	123	14	137	24.51%
Russell Labey	98	38	136	24.33%
Sir Philip Martin Bailhache	74	52	126	22.54%
Geoffrey Peter Southern	117	6	123	22.00%
Alan John Henry Maclean	102	16	118	21.11%
Sadie Anthea Le Sueur-Rennard	55	55	110	19.68%
Andrew David Lewis	101	8	109	19.50%
Stephen William Pallett	105	2	107	19.14%
Lyndon John Farnham	96		96	17.17%
Scott Michael Wickenden	78	17	95	16.99%
John Martin Refault	81	13	94	16.82%
Edward James Noel	84	8	92	16.46%
Michael Roderick Higgins	86	4	90	16.10%
Montfort Tadier	85	5	90	16.10%
Leonard Norman	87		87	15.56%
Louise Mary Catherine  Doublet	86		86	15.38%
Deidre Wendy Mezbourian	55	30	85	15.21%
Stephen George Luce	68	8	76	13.60%
Richard John Renouf	73		73	13.06%
Roderick Gordon Bryans	70	3	73	13.06%
Juliette Gallichan	68		68	12.16%
John Alexander Nicholas Le Fondre	67		67	11.99%
Zoe Ann Cameron	51	14	65	11.63%
Carolyn Fiona Labey	47	14	61	10.91%
Judith Ann Martin	13	48	61	10.91%
Susan Jane Pinel	49	9	58	10.38%
Kristina Louise Moore	25	30	55	9.84%
Paul Francis Routier M.B.E.	39	15	54	9.66%
Kevin Charles Lewis	53		53	9.48%
Anne Enid Pryke	46	5	51	9.12%
Peter Derek McLinton	51		51	9.12%
Christopher Hugh Taylor	50		50	8.94%
Philip Bond Le Sueur	43	5	48	8.59%
Michael John Paddock	43	4	47	8.41%
Murray Julian Norton	46	1	47	8.41%
Ian Joseph Gorst	45		45	8.05%
Jacqueline Ann Hilton	44		44	7.87%
Sarah Craig Ferguson	38	1	39	6.98%
John Edward Le Maistre	38		38	6.80%
Samuel Yves Mezec	33		33	5.90%
Simon Muir Bree	24	8	32	5.72%
Tracey Anne Vallois	29		29	5.19%
Andrew Kenneth Francis  Green M.B.E.	23		23	4.11%
Richard John Rondel		15	15	2.68%
Terence Alexander McDonald	7		7	1.25%
Robert David Johnson	6		6	1.07%
Jeremy Martin Macon	4		4	0.72%
Graham John Truscott	1		1	0.18%
Michel Philip Sydney Le Troquer	1		1	0.18%