Proposed UBP Bill Could See Voters Struck From Register

Entitled the Parliamentary Election Amendment Bill 2010 it is designed, according to the Explanatory Memorandum, "to maintain a true and more accurate record of persons entitled to be registered to vote."

This Bill would grant power to the Parliamentary Registrar to determine if someone having registered in one constituency has moved away from that constituency, and whether they should therefore be taken off the voting register. Under current law there is ambiguity about the status of a person who is registered in one constituency yet lives in another. In the past two elections (2003 and 2007), when there were questions raised by scrutineers about the eligibility of someone to vote because of their place of residence the decision was usually made to allow the person to vote in the constituency in which they were registered.

The UBP has objected to this practice and have argued some constituencies had decisions made by fewer than 50 votes while up to 50 votes in some constituencies were cast by voters who actually lived in other constituencies. Their legislative proposal would require the Parliamentary Registrar to keep
the voters' list under "continuous review" to ensure it is as up to date as possible.

The governing Progressive Labour Party is unlikely to support this Bill given that in runs counter to one of their central 1998 election promises. Under election laws prior to the PLP amendment, persons qualified to register as voters were required to register annually. Failure to do so would mean
people would not be on the voters' list for that year. If an election was called they would not be allowed to vote. The PLP long argued that this law disenfranchised its supporters disproportionately and vowed to change it. One of the first pieces of legislation it introduced after winning government in 1998 was to pass an amendment which eliminated annual registration and thereby guarantee a person only needed to be registered once to remain on the register.

The UBP and PLP positions represent two divergent views about electoral parity: The UBP argue for precision in the accuracy of the voters' list while the PLP want to ensure everyone qualified to register to vote can actually cast their vote.

Calling for changes in the electoral system has been a  heme of the UBP since the 2007 election - they have called for an introduction of proportional representation, requested the Boundaries Commission mandate a wholesale re-registration of all voters, and continue with this Bill. They clearly recognize the Bill has slim to no chance of being adopted, or even debate for that matter; their real objective seems to be to raise awareness of a aspect of Bermuda's electoral system they feel is in desperate need of repair.