in for some heavy criticism from Opposition MPs in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Despite their protests, no objections were recorded when the Parliamentary Election Amendment Rules 1994, and the Parliamentary Election Amendment Act 1994 were approved.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said the rules would increase pay from $7.50 a meeting to $10 a meeting for people who scrutinise the preparation of the draft register each year.

Sir John said that the scrutineers had an "onerous task'' but that the list, once completed, was extremely helpful to the public when it came to elections, by-elections and referendums.

The Premier also asked that fees paid to returning and presiding officers be increased since they have not been changed since 1984.

Fees paid to returning officers during a contested election would rise to $250 from $100 and for an uncontested election the fee would be $75 instead of $50.

For advance polls, returning officers would get $100 a meeting. Presiding officers would now earn $10 an hour and work from 9.30 a.m until 9.00 p.m.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Mr. Alex Scott (PLP) urged Government to take a "serious look'' at the Registrar's role.

"I have to salute these Bermudians for labouring on, but this system is antiquated,''he said.

Mr. Scott called on Government to use computers to speed up the process which he said dissuaded people from registering.

"It is Government's job to ensure that every person who should be registered is in fact registered, but the system does not service the requirements of the law.'' Mr. Walter Lister (PLP) said Government was doing voters a disservice by forcing them to re-register every February.

"This is a gross waste of taxpayers' money and can be avoided,'' he said, proposing a general registration every five years.

However, Sir John the Premier defended the system though he agreed it was antiquated.

He said that in the last election 79 percent of voters turned out, one of the highest rates in the world.

He said the working class Bermudian, who made up the majority of the electorate, "wanted to be reminded'' so they could be confident that they were registered and in the right constituency.

Sir John said that prior to 1977 Bermuda employed a five-year registration period that created chaos because people who died or moved often had their names still included in the final list.

"I've been hearing...`Let's go back to where we were before and technology will save us,' '' Sir John said. "But the demographics are changing in Bermuda and many people will not register unless reminded.'' The Premier came in for a second bout of Opposition when he proposed that a fee should be charged to anyone wishing to get a copy of the final voters list.

This was the main change in the Parliamentary Election Amendment Act 1994.

Sir John said that charging a fee would allow the material to be sold if a member of the public wanted a page of the voter list, a constituency voter list or the whole bound volume containing all 20 constituencies.

A bound volume would cost $250, and a computer printout would cost 30 cents a page.

Sir John said the fees would not cover the full cost but it would help to cut down on waste brought about by arbitrary use.

Mr. Scott slammed Government for asking the public to foot costs that were not really their responsibility.

But Sir John pointed out the Election Act required that the voters list be offered for sale. He did not think the fees were excessive.