There are 74 candidates after your vote on December 18, but just two are Independent.

Yesterday’s Nomination Day registrations saw no surprises, but one independent missed out on his chance to compete against the nation’s two political powerhouses.

Kingsley Francis, father of PLP MP Patrice Minors, failed to register with the Returning Officer at the St. George’s South Polling Station by the 1 p.m. deadline. His omission leaves Independents ‘Son of the Soil’ Harold Darrell running in Pembroke Central and Roger Russell to competing in Pembroke West Central.

Parliamentary Registrar Randy Scott said last night: “One candidate (Mr. Francis) didn’t make the timeline. He had to go and organise his papers.”

Mr. Francis told The Royal Gazette he had missed out on the deadline by “just a minute or two”.

“I got into a little mishap in relation to the forms,” he said. “There had to be two identical forms and I had to get the Proposer and Seconder to sign another document, and so I was too late when I got back to present them. I was just a minute or two late.”

Mr. Francis, of Southside, St. George’s, said: “I am disappointed. My intention was to run and I felt I was on solid ground. I wanted to assist in finding remedies and solutions for whatever the issue was on the table at the House, and I was not part of any war between the parties.”

He added he was “undecided” on who he will now vote for, but said there was a case for more Independents in Parliament.

“The two who are running (Mr. Darrell and Mr. Russell) should make a difference in the House,” said Mr. Francis. “It means people can vote for the person and not the party, so I think Independents in the House would be quite useful.”

Parliamentary Registrar Mr. Scott yesterday described the registration of two Independents as “fairly normal for Bermuda”, and said the nomination period had run “smoothly”.

With the General Election less than a month away, Mr. Scott is now encouraging voters to make themselves aware of who their Constituency candidates are and where their polling stations will be. This information can be found on the Parliamentary Registry Office website: www.elections.gov.bm

The full list of candidates is as follows:

St. George’s North: Kenneth Leon Bascome (UBP), Jennifer Meredith Smith (PLP)

St. George’s West: Michael Dean Foggo (PLP), Hubert Kim Eugene Swan (UBP)

St. David’s: Lovitta Fiona Foggo (PLP), Suzanne Roberts-Holshouser (UBP)

St. George’s South: Donte Omar Hunt (UBP), Philip John Perinchief (PLP),

Hamilton East: Derrick Vaughn Burgess (PLP), David Joseph Sullivan (UBP)

Hamilton West: Charles Arthur Clarke (PLP), Wayne Livingstone Furbert (UBP)

Hamilton South: Wayne Michael Caines (PLP), Darius Demetris Morris Tucker (UBP)

Smith’s South: Jane Elizabeth Susan Correia (PLP), Nelson Hadley Cole Simons (UBP)

Smith’s West: Trevor Gerard Moniz (UBP), Larry Devron Mussenden (PLP)

Smith’s North: Michael Henry Dunkley (UBP), Patrice Kimberley Minors (PLP)

Devonshire East: Everard Trenton Richards (UBP) Neville Sinclair Tyrrell (PLP)

Devonshire South Central: John Barritt (UBP) Linda Albertha Merritt (PLP)

Devonshire North Central: Glenn Algernon Blakeney (PLP), Albertha Louise Waite (UBP)

Devonshire North West: Paula Ann Cox (PLP), Allan David Marshall (UBP)

Pembroke East: Sean McRonald Pitcher (UBP), Walter Henri Roban (PLP)

Pembroke East Central: Nelson Blake Ainsworth Bascome (PLP), Keith O’Brian Young (UBP)

Pembroke Central: Harold Joseph Darrell (Independent) Wayne Norris Maxwell Perinchief (PLP), Austin Stanley Warner (UBP)

Pembroke West Central: Dorothy Neletha Isobel Butterfield (PLP), Roger Lewis Russelll (Independent) Marilyn Louise Steede (UBP)

Pembroke West: Charles Walton Devere Brown, Jr. (PLP), Shawn Granville Crockwell (UBP)

Pembroke South West: Laverne Eleanor Furbert (PLP), Louise Ann Jackson (UBP)

Pembroke South East: Tillman Donnahue Darrell (UBP), Ashfield Eversley Devent, Jr. (PLP)

Paget East: Edmund Graham Grant Gibbons (UBP), Davida Marie Morris (PLP),

Paget West: Rolfe Patton Commissiong (PLP), Patricia Jasmine Gordon-Pamplin (UBP)

Warwick South East: William Alexander Scott (PLP), Jefferson Colby Sousa (UBP)

Warwick North East: Dale De Lloyd Butler (PLP), Gina Voleita Caroline Spence-Farmer (UBP)

Warwick South Central: Ewart Frederick Brown (PLP), Roderick Dillworth Earlington Simons (UBP)

Warwick North: Central: Elvin Gerald James (PLP), R. Wayne Scott (UBP)

Warwick East: Mark J. Pettingill (UBP), George Anthony Scott (PLP),

Southampton East: Douglas Seraphim James DeCouto (UBP) Stanley William Lowe (PLP)

Southampton East Central: Andrew David Dodwell (UBP) Zane Joseph Stephen DeSilva (PLP)

Southampton West Central: Marc Allan Raul Bean (PLP), Jon Leslie Brunson (UBP)

Southampton West: Kenneth Howard Randolph Horton (PLP), Charles Francis Batson Swan (UBP)

Sandys South: Terry Eugene Lister (PLP), Alvin Trevor Wilson (UBP)

Sandys South Central: Sarah Ann Burrows (UBP), Walter Mervyn Lister (PLP)

Sandys North Central: Donald James Hassell (UBP), Dennis Patrick Lister (PLP)

Sandys North: Edward Philip Bailey (UBP), Michael John Scott (PLP)