Comments on: Column: Determining Right To Absentee Voting

By: Kennette 'Island Empress'

Kennette 'Island Empress' — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 02:05:11 +0000

I never said I want voting right based on land ownership. My reason for bringing up land, assets, businesses is to prove to people that just b/c i dont live in Bermuda, doesn’t mean i am not affected by laws there, b/c of these assets it surely affects me.

I believe that registered Bermudians should be allowed to vote, regardless of where they are. If someone owns land in Bermuda and is not a Bermudian [not if they can do that but anyway] i would not be for them getting votes. ie for me, i dont have American citizenship, but i can own a home in America , but i dont believe i should have the right to vote just b/c i own the home, b/c i am not a citizen

By: Kennette 'Island Empress'

Kennette 'Island Empress' — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 01:59:48 +0000

What I am hearing is that Bermudians living away shouldn’t vote because e are not affected by hat we vote on. lies. How am I a registered Bermudian, temporarily living in USA on VISA , which means I am due to return HOME not affected eventually? Elections are for how many years? Even if I am not moving back in 4 years, some laws made governments have a lasting impression for years after that will affect me. I am not affected b/c i dont live in Bermuda now??!! lies. My entire bloodline is living in Bermuda. When they are affected, so am I.

I believe if I am Bermudian [documented] then I have the right to vote and right to absentee ballot. For those that disagree, I respect your opinion, i just can not agree to let you take away my right b/c of my living situation that is based on laws and the environment in Bermuda in the first place.

By: Hmmmm

Hmmmm — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 20:48:16 +0000

Paying Taxes does NOT equal Land owner!!!

By: Quinton Berkley Butterfield

Quinton Berkley Butterfield — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:21:18 +0000

Great! These comments are awesome! Glad I could get the discussion going.

By: Quinton Berkley Butterfield

Quinton Berkley Butterfield — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:20:05 +0000

Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.

- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

By: voting right

voting right — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 14:22:47 +0000

If you want a voting system based on your ownership of property in Bermuda, then I invite you to Bermuda in the 1950′s, which we have gladly moved away from.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 12:14:52 +0000

This is the best response to this situation.

By: Zevon

Zevon — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 08:02:01 +0000

If laws should protect us all, perhaps all residents of Bermuda should be able to vote. That would be real democracy.

By: Zevon

Zevon — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 07:49:36 +0000

No. If you’re living overseas you pay no taxes here, and you are not affected day to day by the consequences of voting one way or another. Students are ordinarily resident here.

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 03:01:40 +0000

This article is total PLP biased nonsense.

By: Tom Cooke

Tom Cooke — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 00:47:46 +0000

Easy if you are registered to vote… vote… hell I can spend cash on line… I should be able to vote.. if iam off island…

By: Sickofantz

Sickofantz — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 00:41:14 +0000

But Lois I know many spouses of Bermudians who have lived here for years but still continue to vote in their own birth countries as they are allowed. Let’s face it nobody wants to be totally disenfranchised.

By: Sickofantz

Sickofantz — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 00:39:08 +0000

I agree with you Lois. I think the geniuses at Alaska Hall didn’t think this through when they started questioning the rules for Students.

By: Kennette 'Island Empress'

Kennette 'Island Empress' — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 23:27:51 +0000

I believe that ALL BERMUDIANS no matter where they are living should be allowed to vote, and have access to absentee voting. No matter if we are college students, on work visas [like me], or living abroad permanently, Bermuda is our documented home and we may choose to return back, so we should have some say. Plus many of us have assets, businesses, family, and other interests in Bermuda so we should always have a say to our land.

By: Triangle Drifter

Triangle Drifter — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 21:26:37 +0000

Why is this being made so complex?

It should be a simple matter that if you are a registered voter you should be able to vote if you happen to be off the Island.

If you are a student, where you are studying has no relevance. If home is Bermuda & you are registered, you can vote.

Same with an adult. It really does not matter where you are in the world. If you happen to be away from Bermuda, where you are registered to vote, you should be able to do it online.

Who knows when an election is going to be called? They only need to give 3 weeks notice. People traveling cannot be expected to plan their travels around a possible election.

We can all do our banking & feel secure anywhere in the world. The simple matter of voting should not be difficult to set up.

Seniors here on the Island should be able to vote online. For some of them getting out to do anything is a very big effort with risks to them.

Bermuda is just so far behind times.

By: Lois Frederick

Lois Frederick — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 21:11:44 +0000

Not sure about spouses and well most PRC’s will be able to soon anyway.

The idea is as you have stated for students abroad to vote. What this opinion piece and comments are discussing is the idea that it should be open to others too, which certainly debatable.

By: Lois Frederick

Lois Frederick — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 21:07:54 +0000

I think we are in agreement.

By: lalalal

lalalal — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 19:47:39 +0000

@Lois Frederick.. The idea of absentee voting was and I believe still is intended to allow students (who are permanent residence)and who study abroad to have their say in an election. As may have stated under section 55 of the constitution you need to be resident to vote. (and why should someone that no longer lives in Bermuda be allow to vote?)

Going 1 step further I think that PRC’s and Spouses of Bermudians should also be allowed to vote. They obviously have a stake in the islands future.

By: Lois Frederick

Lois Frederick — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 19:21:42 +0000

It might be a case of be careful what you ask for. I wonder what the political breakdown would be of all Bermudians living abroad?

By: Sickofantz

Sickofantz — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:45:42 +0000

I agree that all Bermudians abroad, who can prove proof of Bermudian zcitienship when they apply for an absentee ballot should be allowed to vote. Good for you Mr Butterfield.

If it is going to be just students at first then I can understand why some veracity in the form of checking the educational institution is necessary or any Bermudian abroad could sign up for a simpl college course just to get the absentee vote.

It clearly wasn’t meant to discriminate as 99% of Bermudian students study at recognised places of study. (There are a few at strange theological places.)

To v\avoid any thought of discrimination the obvious answer is to let all Bermudians outside the country APPLY for an absentee ballot.

By: Lois Frederick

Lois Frederick — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:28:09 +0000

It really can’t be open ended. As examples, my father left here when he retired over 25 years ago, as a Bermudian, should he be allowed to vote in Bermuda? I don’t think so. My brother, a Bermudian, is also living abroad, after studying overseas and has not lived here for over 10 years. Should he be allowed to vote here? I don’t think so and they wouldn’t expect to be able to vote here either. If you are living overseas, apart from for educational purposes, it is hard to imagine why anyone else should be allowed to vote here.

By: Ash

Ash — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:09:02 +0000

I agree that all Bermudians overseas should be able to vote not just the ones who are students at accredited schools. However with this brings up issues if this were to be allowed. Bermuda would have to come up with a way to prove that these people are who they say they are and meet the requirements to vote (18+ Bermudian or resident since 1976 (I think that’s the date). They would also have to make sure that they haven’t voted already on the election. So only after those issues are solved, only then should Bermuda allow it.

By: Lois Frederick

Lois Frederick — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:20:19 +0000

I welcome the move to allow Bermudian students abroad the ability to vote and understand the need for certain requirements to be met in order to be able to vote. Accredited means that it is a recognised learning institution and the vast majority of students from Bermuda that study abroad attend accredited learning institutions.

By: Clare

Clare — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:03:00 +0000

I think all Bermudians, wherever they are, should be encouraged to vote. We want them to return home with new ideas and skills and perspectives and new business opportunities to keep our economy dynamic. What better way to keep Bermudians abroad plugged-in than to encourage them to vote? Perhaps they’ll be more likely to stay in touch, follow the local news and retain their personal and professional connections to the island. This would be good for all of us.

By: have some backbone

have some backbone — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:02:08 +0000

Well spoken, Mr. Butterfield. It will be most interesting this government’s response, if at all, to Mr. Butterfield’s information. It is thought-provoking and necessary. Let’s hope that this government does allow TALK to happen on this very serious issue.

By: clearasmud

clearasmud — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 14:26:28 +0000

I think this is a good article an a very good comment. Regarding the problem the Minister spoke of about where they would vote, this could be easily managed by having absentees declare their constituency when they register for the absentee vote. Alternatively for those not in school we could simply use their last official residence.

By: San George

San George — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 14:13:29 +0000

A country of laws. Law should protect us all.

By: Not exactly

Not exactly — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:57:26 +0000

Given the above it would seem that “ordinarily resident” is the main restraint for providing this absentee proviso. Students are generally still under their parents stewardship and insurance already allows for this until you are 26.

I could easily be argued that once someone is working abroad they are no longer dependants of their parents household and therefore have no residency claim in Bermuda.

As to the author’s point about people that have never lived here, I agree as does the Constitution. If they are dependants of parent that are not resident’s there is no basis under the Constitution to give them absentee voting.

By: Not exactly

Not exactly — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:52:36 +0000

I was curious and looked up Section 55: “Qualifications and disqualifications of electors Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, a person shall be qualified to be registered as an elector for the purposes of elections in a constituency if and shall not be so qualified unless, on the qualifying date, he— is a Commonwealth citizen (within the meaning of the British Nationality Act 1981) who has attained the age of eighteen years; he possesses Bermudian status or, if he does not possess that status, was registered as an elector on 1st May, 1976; and he is ordinarily resident in that constituency. [NOTE by the British Nationality Act 1981 section 51 without prejudice to subsection (3)(c) thereof in any UK statutory instrument made before 1 January 1983 “British subject” and “Commonwealth citizen” have the same meaning and in relation to any time after 1 January 1983 means a person who has the status of a Commonwealth citizen under the British Nationality Act 1981] No person shall be qualified to be registered as aforesaid who, on the qualifying date— is registered as an elector for the purposes of elections in any other constituency; is a person certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind under any law in force in Bermuda; is disqualified for such registration under any law in force in Bermuda by reason of his serving or being under such a sentence of imprisonment (by whatever name called) as may be prescribed by any such law; or is disqualified for such registration under any such law by reason of his having been convicted of any offence relating to elections. (4) (5) (6) (7) 55 (1) (a) (b) (c) (2) (a) (b) (c) (d) 48 BERMUDA CONSTITUTION ORDER 1968 In this section “the qualifying date” means, in relation to any person, such date as may be prescribed by law as the date with reference to which that person’s qualifications for registration shall be ascertained for the purposes of the preparation or revision of a register of electors for the constituency concerned. [Section 55 amended by 1989:57 effective 1 January 1990; and by UK SI 2579/”

By: THE MAN!

THE MAN! — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 12:52:45 +0000

except section 55 of the constitution says differently