Governor to postpone elections or referendums in the event of an "extreme emergency''.

The Parliamentary Election Amendment Act -- moved in the wake of the delay in the 1995 Independence Referendum -- sailed through its second and third readings in the Senate.

Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs, Sen. Yvette Swan said the bill arose from recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry into the 1995 Independence Referendum which saw the vote postponed when the Island was hit by a hurricane a day before the vote was scheduled to be held.

The amendment, she said, was based upon similar legislation in Jamaica, the Representation of the Peoples Act, and gives Government the power to postpone elections, by-elections, or referenda while Bermuda is engaged in a state of war or emergency; imperilled by earthquake, fire, flood, or hurricane; threatened by disease or pestilence; or riots or any other factor which could impact upon a fair election.

The amendment gives the Governor the power to cancel any polling date and set an alternate date, said Senator Swan.

In case of "extreme emergency'' the amendment also provides that, should no time permit for public notification of an alternate polling date in the Official Gazette, the Governor may proclaim the amended date by proclamation affixed to the door of the Post Office.

Sen. Terry Lister (PLP) said the amendment seemed more a housekeeping matter that would cover all eventualities, but said Government should also move to scrap annual voter registration, a "nuisance'' which cost the taxpayer about $100,000.

Sen. Walwyn Hughes (Ind) observed that truth was sometimes stranger than fiction; Hollywood could not have scripted a more bizarre set of circumstances for the 1995 referendum.

The only potential problem with the amendment was playing around with elections and polling days could set a scenario for controversial contests, he said.

Sen. Hughes also noted the Commission of Inquiry had recommended Government study a separate bill for the holding of referenda.

"We may never see the events that caused the particular problems of the referendum again, but at least now we will have a way of dealing with it,'' he said.