19 August, 2014

Dear Sir,

One of the most pressing economic concerns for most Bermudians is the cost of maintaining an overstaffed Civil Service. Many believe that there are thousands more Government employees than are needed. Just look at the total employment numbers at the end of the UBP tenure in 1998 and at the end of the PLP’s tenure in 2012 to quantify the massive increase in bodies.

The Royal Gazette is rightly seeking the opinion of its readers through an online poll to determine how many are in favour of privatising public services, but the poll is seriously flawed and the violent swings are but one indication. The polls usually start to trend early and rarely change significantly as voter numbers increase.

The current poll showed a high percentage of support for privatising which then changed by double digits with the addition of thousands of votes in a day or so. Over the weekend the poll slowly reversed and then this morning a rapid swing the other way with thousands of more votes. Possible? Yes. Plausible? No.

I have proven that every time the internet is accessed it is possible to vote. In its extreme, all the voting in the current poll could have been cast by just two people. Unlikely, but the result has absolutely zero value as a measure of how The Royal Gazette readers feel about the issue.

I would ask, as did The Bermuda Sun newspaper, for The Royal Gazette to modify its poll algorithms to ensure that only one vote can be made from each computer.

One man, one thousand votes, is not right.

CARAPACE