No churches will be used as polling stations for the referendum on same-sex relationships, home affairs minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin announced yesterday.

Mrs Gordon-Pamplin told a press conference schools would largely be used for the ballot, as she gave details on the process for the single-issue vote, which takes place a week today.

Responding to the suggestion that holding a non-binding referendum was pointless, she said: “It absolutely is not a waste of time.

“When you have an issue put to the Government to consider, it’s very important that we at least identify where people stand.”

The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the landmark Oliari and others v Italy upheld the right to a family life, she said, but came with a proviso that public views on marriage be considered.

As for her own views, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she had “no problem sharing my personal stance”, but stressed the need for her neutrality while speaking on the referendum.

“My job as minister is not to show any bias, but rather put the information forward.”

Her announcement comes on

the heels of an order granted by Chief Justice Ian Kawaley last week which quashed a decision to have six churches among the 12 polling stations across the island.

Mr Justice Kawaley said voting had to take place at neutral locations to “ensure an appearance of a fair electoral or referendum process”.

He said: “Had the Premier appointed an ad hoc committee ... and had the entire process not been fast-tracked, this embarrassing and, to my mind, glaring error would not have been made.

“The parliamentary registrar would have had more time and the assistance of other objective and detached minds to carefully consider such matters.”

The Chief Justice added: “I am bound to find that the decision to designate the churches in question as polling rooms was unreasonable and/or irrational in the recognised public law sense.”

His order was granted in response to an application for judicial review from the civil liberties group Centre for Justice, which said it was unreasonable to expect people to vote at the Holy Trinity Church Hall, St Patrick’s Church Hall, First Church of God Hall, Seventh-day Adventist Church Hall, Calvary Gospel Church Hall and Allen Temple Church Hall.

Those venues will no longer be used as polling stations and Ms Gordon-Pamplin urged voters to check where to cast their vote on the new list of polling stations:

• Penno’s Wharf cruise ship terminal — St George’s North (1), St George’s West (2), St David’s (3).

• Francis Patton Primary School — St George’s South (4), Hamilton East (5), Hamilton West (6).

• Elliot Primary School — Hamilton South (7), Smith’s South (8), Smith’s West (9).

• Botanical Gardens Horticultural Hall — Smith’s North (10), Devonshire East (11), Devonshire South Central (12).

• National Sports Centre Pavilion — Devonshire North Central (13), Devonshire North West (14), Pembroke East (15).

• West Pembroke Primary School — Pembroke East Central (16), Pembroke Central (17), Pembroke West Central (18).

• Dellwood Middle School — Pembroke West (19), Pembroke South West (20), Pembroke South East (21).

• Bermuda College Student Centre — Paget East (22), Paget West (23), Warwick South East (24).

• Windreach — Warwick North East (25), Warwick South Central (26), Warwick North Central (27).

• Heron Bay Primary School — Warwick West (28), Southampton East (29), Southampton East Central (30).

• Somers Isles Lodge — Southampton West Central (31), Southampton West (32), Sandys South (33).

• Somerset Primary School — Sandys South Central (34), Sandys North Central (35), Sandys North (36).

Voters can confirm their constituency at www.elections.gov.bm. To cast a ballot, voters must bring valid government identification to the appropriate polling station. Stations will open from 8am to 8pm.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin reiterated that the referendum result would be deemed affirmative if 50 per cent or more of voters turned out and if more than 50 per cent voted yes.

She said though the referendum was non-binding it would allow the Government to “hear the feelings of voters” on the issue of how to recognise same-sex relationships in law. The Constitution, recent rulings from the Supreme Court and the European Convention on Human Rights were also considerations, as well as petitions for and against, the minister added.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin said Government’s Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act, which would confirm marriage as exclusively between a man and woman and allow discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in relation to marriage, remained on the orders for the House of Assembly to be debated “at the appropriate time”.

Education on the referendum will be given at a public meeting at three town hall meetings: 6.30pm today at the Bermuda College North Hall, at the same time on Tuesday at Francis Patton School and at the same time on Wednesday at Sandys Secondary Middle School.

The referendum will ask voters if they are in favour of same-sex marriage and if they are in favour of civil unions. Campaigners pushing for a yes vote for both questions have begun handing out flyers in Hamilton, placing prominent newspaper adverts and releasing videos and images of their supporters via social media.

Shoppers will also see “vote yes yes” adverts when they swipe their credit cards at ten supermarkets across the island in the run-up to June 23.

Adrian Hartnett-Beasley, one of the co-ordinators of the Yes Yes campaign, said the message was getting out there and would continue over the next week. “There is no one in Bermuda that hasn’t seen a ‘yes, yes’ sign,” he said.

The charity Preserve Marriage campaigned for the referendum and is pushing the message “vote no twice” on its Facebook page. Vehicle bumper stickers and window signs have also been issued by campaigners. Preserve Marriage chairman Melvyn Bassett declined to comment on the campaign yesterday, referring this newspaper to spokesman Gary Simons, who could not be reached. • To see Mrs Gordon-Pamplin’s statement in full, including a list of the polling stations, click on the PDF under “Related Media”

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