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Parliamentary Election Amendment (No. 2) Act 1999

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Parliamentary Election Amendment (No. 2) Act 1999
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

1

BERMUDA
1999 : 15

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (N0. 2) ACT 1999

[Date of Assent 11th May 1999]

[Operative Date 11th May 1999]

WHEREAS it is expedient to make new provision for the
preparation, revision and maintenance of the parliamentary register, for
the duration of the polls, for the identification of intending voters, and for
connected purposes:

Be it enacted by The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate and the House of Assembly of
Bermuda, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Election Amendment
(No. 2) Act 1999.

Interpretation
2 In this Act, the "principal Act" means the Parliamentary Election
Act 1978.

Amends section 1
3 (1) Section 1(1) of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by deleting the definition of "general register";

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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(b) by deleting the definition of "parliamentary register" and
substituting the following definition—

""parliamentary register" means the parliamentary
register prepared, revised and maintained by the
Registrar pursuant to section 7(1), and includes a
part of the register relating to a constituency;";

(c) by deleting the definition of "qualifying date" and
substituting the following definition—

""qualifying date" means the date referred to in section
3(4);";

(d) by deleting the definition of "voters' list".

Amends section 3
4 Section 3 of the principal Act is amended by inserting the
following subsection after subsection (3)—

" (4) For the purposes of section 55(3) of the
Constitution and of this Act, the qualifying date shall be the date
on which a person applies for registration as an elector under
section 10(1).".

Substitutes section 7
5 Section 7 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section substituted—

"Parliamentary register
7 (1) As soon as practicable after the commencement of
the Parliamentary Election Amendment (No. 2) Act 1999, the
Registrar shall prepare, and shall thereafter revise and maintain
a parliamentary register of persons qualified to be registered as
electors in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

(2) The parliamentary register shall be framed in
separate parts for each constituency.

(3) The parliamentary register shall comprise—

(a) the particulars of persons registered as electors
in the parliamentary registers published on 15
June 1998, as altered by corrections made by
the Registrar, which were used for the general
election held on November 9, 1998; and

(b) the particulars of other persons who have
applied for registration under section 10(1), who

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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appear to the Registrar to be qualified under
section 3(1) to be registered as electors.

(4) The particulars to be entered in the parliamentary
register in relation to each person ("the registered particulars")
shall include the full name of such person and the address at
which he is ordinarily resident, including the postcode.

(5) The misdescription of any person or his address in
the parliamentary register shall not invalidate the registration of
such person as an elector if the description is such as to be
commonly known.

(6) A person whose name is entered on the
parliamentary register prepared pursuant to this Part shall
remain registered therein and, except as provided in section 20,
the Registrar shall not remove the name of any person from the
register.".

Section 8 substituted
6 Section 8 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section substituted—

"Publication of parliamentary register
8 (1) The Registrar shall , not later than the 15th day of
June in each year, publish the parliamentary register by—

(a) making copies thereof available for inspection at
his office;

(b) making copies thereof available at police
stations, post offices, and such other places as
the Registrar may select in each constituency.

(2) The parliamentary register published under
subsection (1) shall, in addition to the particulars of persons
referred to in section 7(3)(a), contain the particulars of all
persons who are qualified to be registered and who have applied
for registration before the 1st day of June in each year.

(3) The Registrar shall at the time of publishing the
parliamentary register publish a notice in such manner as the
Registrar thinks best calculated to bring it to the attention of
electors, drawing attention to the publication of the
parliamentary register and to the procedures for the making of
claims and objections.

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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(4) The Registrar shall not be required to publish the
parliamentary register on 15 June in any year if in that year the
parliamentary register has been published under section 26A.

(5) The Registrar shall provide copies of the
parliamentary register for sale to the public at the office of the
Registrar and at such other places as he shall appoint for such
fee as may be prescribed.".

Repeals section 9
7 Section 9 of the principal Act is repealed.

Substitutes section 10
8 Section 10 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section is substituted—

"Application for registration
10 (1) A person who is qualified to be registered as an
elector for the purpose of a parliamentary election under section
3(1) shall as soon as practicable after qualifying apply in the
prescribed form to the Registrar for registration in the
parliamentary register.

(2) Such application may be made on behalf of such
person by a member of his household.

(3) The Registrar on being satisfied that a person is so
qualified shall register such person in the parliamentary register.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the Governor
issues a writ of election pursuant to section 27, a person
otherwise qualified to be registered as an elector after the issue
of the writ if he will attain voting age on or before polling day is
entitled to be registered in the parliamentary register; and his
entry in the parliamentary register shall give the date on which
he shall attain that age; and until the date given in the entry he
shall not be entitled by virtue of the entry to be treated as an
elector for any purpose other than the purpose of an election at
which the date fixed for the poll is that or a later date.

(5) Before registering any person as an elector, the
Registrar may, if he thinks necessary, require such person to
produce to him his birth certificate and such other documentary
evidence relating to his entitlement to be registered.

(6) Any person who knowingly makes a statement in
an application form which is false in a material particular, or

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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submits any document in support of the application which is
false in a material particular or which has been altered without
lawful authority is guilty of an offence and liable on summary
conviction to 12 months imprisonment or a fine of $500 or to
both.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (4) "voting age"
means the age of eighteen years.".

Inserts section 10A
9 The principal Act is amended by inserting the following section
after section 10—

"Elector to notify Registrar of change in particulars
10A Where there occurs any change in the registered
particulars of an elector, the elector shall within twenty-eight
days from the date of such change give to the Registrar notice in
the prescribed form of the change of particulars; and the
Registrar shall alter the parliamentary register accordingly.".

Repeals sections 11,12 and 13
10 Sections 11, 12 and 13 of the principal Act are repealed.

Amends section 14
11 Section 14 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the words "the parliamentary register"
for "draft registers and the parliamentary registers" in
subsection (1);

(b) by substituting the words "parliamentary register" for
"draft registers" in subsection (3);

(c) by substituting the words "the parliamentary register"
for "a draft register" in subsection (6).

Repeals sections 15 and 16
12 Sections 15 and 16 of the principal Act are repealed.

Amends section 17
13 Section 17 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the words " the parliamentary register"
for " a draft register" and "the draft register" where they
occur in subsection (1);

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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(b) by substituting "15th July" for "the 1st June" in
subsection (2).

Amends section 18
14 Section 18 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the words "the parliamentary register"
for "a draft register" and "the draft register" where they
occur in subsection (1);

(b) by substituting "15th July" for "1st June" in subsection
(2).

Amends section 20
15 Section 20 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the words "parliamentary register" for
"draft registers" where they occur;

(b) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph
(a)—

"(aa) to record changes in the registered particulars of
an elector of which notice has been given under
section 10A;". and

(c) by deleting paragraphs (b) and (c) and substituting the
following paragraphs -

"(b) to correct any clerical error or omission;

(c) to correct any misnomer,inaccurate description
or erroneous entry;or".

Repeals sections 21,22 and 23
16 Sections 21, 22 and 23 of the principal Act are repealed.

Amends section 24
17 Section 24 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the
following subsection—

" (1) Subject to this section, any person
aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar with respect to
an objection made by him under section 17 or 18 may,
within thirty days of notification of the decision to him,
appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision.";

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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(b) by repealing subsection (2).

Amends section 25
18 Section 25 of the principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the words "the parliamentary register"
for "a current parliamentary register" in subsection (2);

(b) by repealing subsection (3).

Substitutes section 26
19 Section 26 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section is substituted—

"Adaptation of register in consequence of altered
constituency boundaries
26 Where consequent upon a review of the constituency
boundaries an order is made by the Governor under section
54(6) of the Constitution altering the constituency boundaries,
the Registrar shall upon the coming into force of the order adapt
the parliamentary register to the alterations to the boundaries.".

Section 26A inserted
20 The principal Act is amended by inserting the following section
after section 26—

"Publication of revised parliamentary register at an election
26A (1) Where the Governor issues a writ of election
pursuant to section 27—

(a) the Registrar shall by notice published in the
Gazette and in such other manner as he thinks
fit, declare that for the purposes of this election
the registration of electors shall close after a
period ending seven days after the issuing of the
writ; and

(b) the Registrar shall within seven days after the
end of the period referred to in paragraph (a),
revise and publish the parliamentary register.

(2) Sections 8(1)(a), 8(1)(b) and 8(3) shall apply to the
parliamentary register published under subsection (1)(b) as they
apply to the parliamentary register published under section 8(1).

(3) Sections 17 and 18 as modified by subsection (4),
and sections 19 and 24 shall apply to the parliamentary register

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 1999

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published under subsection (1)(b) as they apply to the
parliamentary register published under section 8(1).

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), sections 17 and
18 are modified as follows—

(a) in section 17,

(i) by substituting the words "seven days
after publication of the parliamentary
register under section 26A (1)(b)" for "15
July" in subsection (2);

(ii) subsection (4) shall not apply;

(b) in section 18, by substituting the words "seven
days after publication of the parliamentary
register under section 26A(1)(b)" for "15 July" in
subsection (2).

(5) The Registrar shall, not later than twenty-eight
days after the issuing of the writ, publish the revised
parliamentary register of electors and shall include therein all
corrections made under section 20.

(6) The revised parliamentary register published under
subsection (5) shall be used for the election in respect of which
the writ was issued.".

Amends section 31
21 Section 31 of the principal Act is amended by repealing
subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection

"(1) Before eleven o'clock in the forenoon of nomination day in
any parliamentary election, the Registrar shall deliver to the
Returning Officer the parliamentary register for that
constituency certified under the Registrar's hand to be correct .".

Amends section 39
22 Section 39(1) of the principal Act is amended by substituting the
words "eight o'clock in the forenoon and eight o'clock in the afternoon"
for "ten o'clock in the forenoon and seven o'clock in the afternoon.".

Amends section 49
23 Section 49 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by
substituting the words "six months" for "three months".

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Amends the Schedule
24 The Schedule to the principal Act is amended

(a) by substituting the words "an elector" for " a voter" in
paragraph 2(1)(c);

(b) by substituting the word "electors" for "voters" in
paragraph 6;

(c) by substituting the words "parliamentary register" for
"voters' list" where they occur in paragraphs 7 and 8.