A Government Senator yesterday argued against allowing Bermudians who move overseas to retain the right to vote.

While he believes students should be able to vote from abroad, Senator Walton Brown said residents who leave the Island should relinquish their voting rights.

Sen. Brown made the remarks during a Motion to the Senate: "That the Senate take note that Bermuda's electoral system and the legal rights granted to voters help to ensure a strong and robust democracy."

He said his Motion aimed to "encourage citizens to reflect on our electoral system" following the 2007 general election and "issues raised at the time which question the merits and strengths of our electoral system".

Sen. Brown said that in the ten years the PLP has been in power, it has encouraged single seat and equal size constituencies, while also removing the requirement for annual voter registration. "We have no history of political advantage or intimidation or corruption in the electoral process," he said. "Elections are free, they are fair and have never been questioned.

"And I think the framework we have in place today means a strong democracy which allows people to vote fair and to vote free."

As part of the Motion, Sen. Brown discussed concerns expressed by the Voters' Rights Association (VRA) and the UK's Foreign Affairs Committee about extending the right to vote to long-term residents.

He said to give them this would be the equivalent of granting them citizenship.

"Organisations such as the VRA and a British Parliamentary committee have looked at the electoral system. They have looked at a number of issues and they have made the point long-term residents can't get the right to vote," said Sen. Brown.

"Long term residents are not citizens, they do not hold Bermudian status. I do not think my Party will support them.

"I support a great range of rights for long-term residents but I don't support the granting of a right to vote to them. That would be the same as granting them status," he said.

He went on to say that students overseas should be able to vote but that residents who start a new life abroad should give up that right.

"I personally believe students studying overseas should be allowed to vote. If a mechanism could be developed we could facilitate that," said Sen. Brown.

"A student abroad is still a Bermudian resident. On the other hand, we have those who decide to pack up and go overseas. When you have decided to make your life in another country then that's where your activity in my opinion should be, and you lose your right in the country you no longer live in."

During the Motion, Opposition Senator Jeanne Atherden raised the problem of keeping track of voters who move between constituencies.

"If you're not going to have an annual registration then we have a dilemma," she said.

Arguing the merits of proportional representation, she said: "If you had everyone in Bermuda casting a vote and it didn't matter where you lived, then you would truly have a percentage of how many voters each party has.

"We could have a tighter balance in the number of seats for each party."

Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley said that during the last election, the PLP had gained 51-52 percent of the votes but 60 percent of the seats. "There is still a great disparity in the way the system is worked out," he said.

And he argued the constituencies were not equal in size, as Sen. Brown claimed.

"If you look at 2008, I think Constituency Three has 1,500 or more registered voters, and Constituency 11 has less than 1,100, so we've seen a great disparity in the number of voters. So here we are already needing to tweak it," he said.

Sen. Dunkley said the Boundaries Commission, which is scheduled to meet before the end of 2009, should redraw the constituency boundaries.

"I fully support equal-sized constituencies, I think it has to be done, especially in Bermuda, and particularly as we will continue to see changes as more condo developments are built," he said.

In terms of voter registration, Sen. Dunkley said: "We need to put a better vehicle in place to ensure people are registered in the correct area.

"I don't think we need to go back to annual voter registration, but we need to make sure everyone is registered. People need to be registered in the correct district."

He said this was particularly important due to the high costs of rental accommodation on the Island, which result in people moving constituencies as they look for "the best deal".

"They move to save money, so are not going to think about registering. We need to look at this with the Boundaries Commission," he said.

Sen. Dunkley then accused Sen. Brown of "sitting on the fence" with regards to students and Bermudians who move abroad.

"Senator Brown believes students overseas can vote but Bermudians living overseas should not vote. I don't see how I can agree with that argument," said Sen. Dunkley.

"If you're a Bermudian and decide to live overseas then that is your right. Bermudians whether they live on the Island or not should be allowed to vote. They are still Bermudian. They should vote in the constituency of their last known residence."

He said: "We are not asking them to give back their citizenship and status. Having the right to vote is important to a lot of people."

Sen. Dunkley also disagreed with Sen. Brown that the electoral process was free of intimidation.