Changes to Electoral Boundaries
The Parliamentary Registry today [Dec 24] announces changes to electoral boundaries to ensure that “qualified electors are distributed as equally as possible across each of Bermuda’s 36 constituencies.” The Premier laid before the House of Assembly the draft Order along with the Statement of Modification on Friday November 5th which was approved by the Legislature on Friday November 26th 2010.
The changes affect 30 constituencies and 6,595 qualified electors (14.3%), and will take effect when the Legislature is dissolved for the next general election. The current Parliamentary Register will remain in place until then.
“The changes to electoral boundaries were carefully considered by the Constituencies Boundaries Commission,” says Randy Scott, Parliamentary Registrar, “and are necessary to ensure fairness and equality in electoral processes.”
Section 53 of the Constitution of Bermuda provides that a Constituencies Boundaries Commission be appointed not less than three and no more than seven years from the date on which the previous Commission submitted its report. The current Constituencies Boundaries Commission was established by the Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, on June 4, 2009 and submitted its report to the Governor and Premier on May 21, 2010. Government says the Constituencies Boundaries Commission is mandated to “ensure that the constituencies contain, so far as is reasonably practical, equal numbers of persons qualified to be registered as electors.”
“With the pace of development on the island and the fluctuation of qualified voters from one parish or one constituency to the next,” continues Mr. Scott, “it is necessary to revisit electoral boundaries on a regular basis to ensure that constituencies are as equally represented by qualified electors as is possible. That is the function of the Constituencies Boundaries Commission, and I thank Commission members for their work and due diligence in this regard.”
The Parliamentary Registry will notify affected voters of their new constituency well in advance of the next general election. For more information, registered voters should visit www.elections.gov.bm or contact the Parliamentary Registry on (441) 293-8683. Copies of the report are available at the Department of Communication and Information, located at Global House Church Street, and at all post offices and the Parliamentary Registry Office.
Aren’t changes supposed to be made based on the census? The census hasn’t been completed so where did the information come from to change the boundaries? I do understand that laws and suggestions were made years ago but the ultimate decider would be the census.
I have moved to 4 different parishes in the last 9 years and i’m still registered in the same constituency. Who’s checking??
Actually, you are supposed to register constituency changes yourself. Check the Act.
Check the Constitution. The Boundaries Commission had to be appointed by 31st August 2009 and has to submit its report to the Speaker of the House as soon as possible after its appointment. the Census data to which they had regard was the 2000 data but they also had a lot of info from Statistics that made the exercise real. the responsibility for knowing where you should be voting is on the Parties vying for your vote. if they canvass they should know who’s who. You should also do the right thing and vote where you live. lol.
“the responsibility for knowing where you should be voting is on the Parties vying for your vote”
Are you sure its not the responsibility of the voter to know where s/he should be voting? AFAIK the political parties submit reports to the Registrar advising of discrepancies in the Register but these are typically ignored.