Hundreds of voters will file into St. Paul's Centennial Hall on Court Street today to select David Allen's replacement in the House of Assembly.

Some 1,774 people, up from 1,735 at the last election, are eligible to vote in the by-election, according to the Parliamentary Registrar.

The United Bermuda Party's (UBP) Leonard Santucci, an AME Minister, will be contesting the Pembroke East Central seat against the ruling party's Ashfield DeVent, a broadcast journalist and taxi driver Dennis Bean, a born again Christian who is running as an Independent.

All three candidates have focused on social issues such as substance abuse, youth and seniors in their campaigning.

While turnout for by-elections have been historically low compared to general elections, senior citizens should play a crucial role in today's poll.

Projecting from the 1991 census, about half of the voters in the district are middle aged or in their senior years.

The district is also, according to the 1991 count, overwhelmingly black. With a total population of over 2,600, 1,955 are Bermudians and 1,767 identified themselves as black.

The by-election has been made necessary because of Mr. Allen's death at the end of September.