Election observation mission 'not interference'

An election observation mission looking at the Isle of Man's general election is "definitely not interference", the head of the delegation has said.

Voters on the island will get the chance to elect 24 members of the House of Keys to represent them across 12 constituencies in the contest on 24 September.

Organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association British Islands and Mediterranean Region (CPA BIMR), the 10-strong team will be monitoring the poll and gathering experiences of those involved.

Head of the team, Deputy Chris Blin, from Guernsey, said: "We're not here to impose or correct or change anything, we are here to listen to understand what people think."

The team will be on the island for the next nine days observing the hustings events, meeting with groups involved in the election, and monitoring polling stations and counts on 24 September.

Blin said what was key about the observation mission was that "it's not politically linked".

"We are not interested in the political result," he said. "We're looking at monitoring and effectively asking questions, submitting reports to give recommendations."

It marks the second time observers from the CPA BIMR have been invited by the Clerk of Tynwald's Office to monitor a Manx general election, with recommendations in 2021 relating to improving polling station access and engaging more women voters.

Those are things the current is team is looking to build on, as Blin explained: "We will look back on the report of the previous election and then take it further on from there and hopefully have other recommendations."

He was also keen to defend the independence of the team and its reporting, with those taking part in the mission split into two groups – commonwealth parliamentarians and analysts.

"The invitation is to have the monitoring take place, but the monitoring has its analysts and has its parliamentarians selected from a pool of people with experience who've done this in other areas," he said.

"The purpose is you're not paying for a result, you are actually paying to have the monitors and the analysts to come in and to perform and undertake that role."

He said the team was "there to basically absorb as much information" as possible, and that would feed into a preliminary report to be published on 28 September.

"Then there will be a bit of time to work on the final parts before the final report is submitted, which is then basically for the benefit of the government," he added.

Polls will be open for voting in the House of Keys general election between 08:00 and 20:00 BST next Thursday.

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook, external and X, external.