Voters Must Wear A Mask, Sanitize Their Hands
Persons who are in quarantine because of recent travel will not be permitted to attend a polling station, and voters will be required to wear a mask, have their temperatures checked and sanitize their hands to enter the polling station, the Parliamentary Registrar said.
A Government spokesperson said, “The Parliamentary Registrar, on the advice of the Department of Health, is today issuing the following advisory to voters who are travelling or plan to travel before the election.
“Persons who are in quarantine because of recent travel will not be permitted to attend a polling station to vote.
“Residents travelling home to vote in the Bermuda General Election need to follow the COVID testing and quarantine protocols.
“In order to vote in the October 1st election returning residents must plan ahead:
- “arrive in Bermuda no later than Tuesday, September 29th , with a negative pre-departure test* to assure ability to vote
- “arrive in Bermuda no later than Sunday, September 20th [if you do not have pre-departure test] quarantine for 8 days and have a negative day 8 test to assure ability to vote
*if there is any uncertainty whether a timely pre-departure test can be obtained then voters are advised to plan to travel to arrive no later than September 20th 2020.
“Voters should be aware that they will be required to wear a mask covering their nose and mouth in order to enter the polling station. Voters will also be required to have their temperatures checked and to sanitize their hands before entering the polling station.
“We encourage voters to cooperate with all polling station staff in order to allow a smooth flow of traffic in and about the polling station.”
So they can prevent someone from voting based on whether or not the person is wearing a mask, whether they have sanitised hands, and whether they have an acceptable temperature.
It’s an appalling over-reach, and is probably unconstitutional. It’s a charter for fraud and vote-rigging.
Of course THESE REQUIREMENTS SHOULD BE OBSERVED!!! It’s to PROTECT YOU & EVERYONE! These requirements are WORLDWIDE STANDARDS! Maybe you haven’t thought of it but it looks like you don’t care for your own safety!!!
So having a temperature or not wearing a mask or being allergic to hand sanitizers means you LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE. A temperature does not mean COVID, non sanitizing does not mean COVID and not wearing a mask does not mean COVID.
Burt should not be holding an election. We have 3 new cases of COVID on island. WHEN WILL Burt wake up from himself. On the one hand he is taking away peoples right to vote, on the other he is putting us all at risk. This is madness and completely unnecessary, the vote can be next year or in 2022. The only plus is for Burt personally.
Russian trolls are everywhere
I still can not believe the Premier has called an election at this time !!!!!!!!!Lord we have all been through so much for the last months and listened to the Premier and the health minister to stay home wash your hands self distance, wear a mask…. and he is going to subject us to go and vote !!! talk about double standards.
I turn up at a polling station and my temperature reads above normal (even tho I might feel fine) am I then turned away?
I go to church and a church member tests positive and I have to quarantine – am i not allowed to vote?
This is going to be so confusing and will lead to people being disenfranchised.
Burt should NEVER have called this election – totally irresponsible
i don’t understand – does this mean that anyone in quarantine loses the right to vote? if so, that is shambolic and selfish of burt
Why of course,if you are under quarantine,you should be in PERIOD, what you want to come out and spread your germs
You’re defending disenfranchisement of voters. This goes beyond party politics. This is wrong.
Outrageous isn’t it? The headline should be “Hundreds of Bermudians are denied their constitutional right to vote”
the Parliamentary registrar says:
APPLY TO VOTE FROM HOME
Please fill in and submit the form provided below. A representative from the Parliamentary Registry will contact you to make further arrangements.
*Registration for voting from home will close on Thursday, 10th September 2020 at 5:00 p.m.*
So do we need to register now just in case we are quarantined?
voting from home registration closes on september 12 – what happens if you are quarantined and cannot apply to vote from home?
Should be an interesting legal situation. What if an increased temperature has nothing to do with Covid 19? You can’t vote? Where is the medical evidence or law that states that?
As to quarantine, and considering the Minister of Health still has power, what’s to stop false positives being announced so as to quarantine voters in certain Constituencies? Open to rampant fraud.
And all of this to carry out the most unnecessary general election in modern history. Meanwhile the man who is taking all the credit for pandemic control continues to strut around stroking his inflated ego to the point of ridiculousness.
I would like someone to look into this – my flight was on the 29th September, which was then cancelled and the only option was to fly on the 30th. I will have a predeparture test, but now am told I am not allowed to vote. I am fairly sure this would be considered unconstitutional due to no postal or proxy vote available – which the UK have. Proxy votes need to be introduced as well as online voting.
it is a time when lots of students will have just gone back to college and university who are being disenfranchised.
Burt should never have called this election – far too short notice and very selfish. NOT the best decision for Bermuda.
People who have a temperature should still be able to vote. A temperature does not mean COVID 19.!!!!!!
This is robbing people of their right to vote. If someone is here and on the island, registered to vote, then they have a constitutional right to vote. Burt is breaking rules that protect us from unscrupulous politicians.
This is stealing peoples rights.
I will be taking a thermometer and checking my own temperature. Anyone who is turned away , go immediately to your gp for a temperature check, and the. With a note of evidence go to vote. If turned away again then post on the news.
I am still in shock, that Burt is taking peoples tight to vote away.If they have travelled.
If we can’t have a proper election, then we should do it next year or the year after when COVID 19 is thing of the past”
This is so wrong.
I agree. I feel like I am shouting into the wind. I have written to the Governor and both party leaders. This is totally wrong … our voting rights were hard fought for and are one of the few democratic society.
Time to introduce the VERY simple Proxy voting system available to the UK … since we are BOT.
See http://www.gov.uk. Application to vote by proxy at a particular election or referendum
The OBAerubpers are gone full crazy and desperate telling my people not to vote and knowing at the same time they will be out in force to try and be govt Oct 1st.
I don’t know how you have concluded that, I see people concerned about a right to vote being taken away unconstitutionally. Nothing anywhere about telling people not to vote. I see no supporting of any part in the posts, except yours. Strange that. Am guessing you probably didn’t read your peoples posts and just typed away.