Three political entities attempted recently to throw shade on the office of the Parliamentary Registrar.

It started with the One Bermuda Alliance with its childlike attempts to demand the Governor and the Parliamentary Registrar move a polling station because it didn’t like the location. Then it moved to take the matter to court, only to be reminded that it could not demand polling stations be moved.

At the end of the by-election, the Free Democratic Movement claimed that there were “anomalies”, which if not sorted to its liking would soon require there to be election observers.

For clarity, election observers would mean non-Bermudians being sent from Britain and other Commonwealth countries to observe Bermudian voters.

Can the FDM even clearly explain what “anomalies” it is making claims about? It cannot continue to make baseless claims against the Parliamentary Registry Office without any form of proof.

Subsequently, in a televised interview on TNN, Sir John Swan also made empty claims against the Parliamentary Registry Office, stating that it may be short-staffed and that people did not have a chance to register to vote.

Sore losers

The OBA did not question the integrity of the Parliamentary Registry Office when it won the General Election in 2012. Nor did it question that office when it won the by-election in Smith’s North this year. So, why is it suddenly making all forms of claims now?

Every polling station is staffed by Bermudians who have nothing but the highest level of training and professionalism.

As for the FDM, merely saying that election observers should be brought in speaks volumes about what it thinks about the integrity of its fellow Bermudians who work as polling agents.

Sir John Swan led the United Bermuda Party from 1982 to 1995, an era in which annual voter registrations were manipulated in order to purge the list of Progressive Labour Party supporters. Perhaps he does not want to admit that the UBP prevented persons under 25 the ability to vote.

In contrast, post-1998, the PLP established continuous voter registration for anyone above 18 years of age. This means that once someone is registered to vote, the only way they are removed from the voter list is if they move abroad for more than six months or if they pass away.

As importantly, anyone who is eligible to vote can simply go online to elections.gov.bm and register to vote — the process takes less than five minutes. Every by-election has a window of 60 days or two months. So, to claim people did not have a chance to register is complete nonsense.

Thank you

There are dedicated staff at the Parliamentary Registry Office who go above and beyond to ensure the following:

• The public are constantly informed via traditional media/social media

• Persons are able to register to vote 24 hours a day

• Polling agents are properly trained

• Elections are free of fraud

Despite the naysayers, the people of Bermuda owe them much thanks.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com