United Bermuda Party candidates who declared interest in Government contracts in the 2007 general election failed to do so as One Bermuda Alliance candidates, according to Shadow Finance Minister David Burt.Addressing the Parliamentary Election Committee yesterday, Mr Burt said prior to the 2007 election, he organised collection of information on Progressive Labour Party members’ interests in Government contracts and had them published within seven days of nomination day.He said he recalls only one PLP candidate, Zane DeSilva, was required to declare an interest at that time, however he said “about 20” declarations were made at that time by the opposition United Bermuda Party.In the 2012 election however he said he did not believe a single OBA candidate declared an interest in a Government contract, despite several of the same candidates running for office in both elections.“I am not in any way shape or form stating that there are people that should have,” he said. “I’m just stating for the record that people who were on the ballot in 2007 and the same people on the ballot in 2012, who made a declaration in 2007 and did not in 2012. That is all I am stating.”He said his interpretation of the law is that candidates must declare any interests in Government contracts.“If an individual has a signed contract from a department, I believe that there is no doubt that there is a contract with that Government department or with the Government,” he said. “My IT consulting company had a contract with Government, and so I made sure to declare that both in 2010 when I was appointed to Senate and at my nomination in 2012.”Mr Burt said it was vital that every effort is made to make sure the people who cast ballots on election day are who they claim to be, and are voting where they should, noting the extremely tight margins in some constituencies. As a result, he described the idea of absentee voting as a “challenge”.“I know that when the parliamentary registrar was asked to look at it previously, he came back and his recommendation was not to proceed with it because I don’t believe he felt he could guarantee the integrity of the voting process.”He said that while he believed a Bermudian student studying abroad should be allowed the right to vote, but the question is how that would be arranged and if it is possible to guarantee the person voting is the person they claim to be.“What if there’s a situation where there’s a certain seat won by four votes and then someone says ‘I didn’t get my mail,’ or someone says ‘I filled out my ballot for someone else’,” he said. “That can cause problems.“I don’t believe that anyone has objections with the process, but I think we must ensure that the person that is supposed to cast the vote is the actual person casting the vote.”He also suggested campaign finance reform so that the public is aware of where the funding for election campaigns comes from and how much is being spent.“You cannot have transparency unless you know that aspect,” he said. “It might do well to know which of your elected officials have financial interest.“The register of interest in the House isn’t even mandatory. The only mandatory declaration is if you have an interest in a Government contract as per the parliamentary regulations act.“I think it’s something that the voters should at least know who’s giving money so they can understand from that perspective.”