February 10, 2013Dear Sir,We would like to refer to John Barritt’s article of February 8 ‘Time to fix the Election Act’.On behalf of the Voter’s Rights Association (VRA) we wish to thank Mr Barritt for bringing this matter to the public’s attention. It’s way beyond time to fix this dinosaur Act designed for a two party system!The VRA has been active for the last five years trying to get greater public support for a Voters’ Bill of Rights that would take into account the points raised in Mr Barritt’s article plus many other basic rights and checks and balances needed to protect us all from an out-of-control government. Well, we now have a second chance to get it right!The rights of Bermudians and all those that live in and pass through Bermuda, in general, is probably the most important long term subject that needs to be addressed by this new Government and we hope that we can work together along with the Opposition to effect the changes that are urgently required to meet the 21st century needs of our citizens..It is unfortunate that the existing Human Rights Commission has been used primarily as a defence mechanism to protect the government of the day. If they had been placed outside of Government’s clutches in a proper independent environment then we might have already had the necessary changes put in place long ago. Instead of being proactive they are reactive and are still under the thumb of Cabinet. This resource does not serve the Bermuda people in the way it should.To move Bermuda forward this Commission needs to be constitutionally independent and more available to the ordinary citizen to do the proper job of protecting us all from any and all rights abuse.GEOFF PARKER SRCo-Chairman, the Voters’ Rights Association