Assembly got back to business after the Easter break.

Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox started debate by saying "the first role'' of citizens in a liberal democracy was to vote.

But she added: "The system of annual registration frustrated the idea of universal franchise.

"This new Progressive Labour Party Government intends to empower the people of Bermuda so they are not unwittingly screened out of the electoral process.'' Ms Cox added: "A permanent, continuous system of voter registration allows registration to take place on a continuous basis.

"Once a person has registered, there is no need for that person to register again -- unless they change their name, change their address or become ineligible to vote.'' Ms Cox admitted no system of voter registration was foolproof and perfection was not achievable.

But she insisted: "The aim of this Government is to streamline voter registration and publication of the electoral register.'' And she added that changing the system would save as much as $40,000 dollars a year in electoral roll production costs.

Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt said there had always been mixed opinions in the United Bermuda Party over annual registration.

But he insisted the PLP plan opened up the risk of "an arbitrary system''.

And he warned that if an election was announced, it could lead to a "mad rush'' to register.

He added: "Or worse still, there are perhaps people who say `I'm down on the register, I've moved, but I'll keep my old vote because it will be more effective in that particular constituency'.'' And he said: "The point is, somewhere along the line we have to say there is a cut-off date and if people haven't registered, they will miss the vote -- that's, as they say, hard cheese.

And he predicted that a lot of people would want to change their registration between July -- when the list is published -- and the following July if an election was called in between.

Mr. Barritt insisted that there should be a recognised cut-off date and additions to the voters' roll published at regular intervals. Elections, he recommended, should work on the last available update.

Under the present legislation, the cut-off date to be registed is 28 days after an election is called.

And he added that, in effect, the legislation could mean that election campaigns would have to be a minimum of six weeks to allow for the mandatory appeals against wrong registration.

Mr. Barritt told Government MPs that the PLP were showing "the kind of arrogance the former Government used to have -- the voters got tired of it -- so keep it up.'' But newly appointed Attorney General Lois Browne Evans defended the bill, claiming it was something "dear to my heart''.

And she took the opportunity to give fellow politicians a history lesson, claiming that her party had "fought with much blood, sweat and tears'' for universal adult suffrage -- a battle which the UBP had not taken part in, she claimed.

"We all know that the early laws were based on keeping as many people off the register as possible,'' she said.

"But you are guilty of never having fought in the civil rights movement in this Country. The former government had many years to bring about an amendment but I can't remember any attempt by any of those members to amend the bill.'' Mrs. Browne Evans conceded that the bill was not perfect but hinted that further amendments were in the pipeline.

Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson backed up Mrs. Browne Evans.

"I hope that the people of this Country never let this party forget its election promises and we will fulfil them,'' he said.

But Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons highlighted that the legislation could cause some problems.

He warned of bottlenecking, with registration legislators being flooded with people who have changed their address just prior to an election.

And he also questioned why the administration arm responsible for compiling the Register had had its budget slashed by half.

"This is a recipe for chaos and I think there's going to be a bottleneck approach around the time of the election,'' he said.

"Everything is going to funnel down where you have people looking to register and change things just before a General Election and then you only have seven days to get the list out.'' Tim Smith (UBP) defended the UBP's track record on civil rights.

"It was said that the UBP has done nothing,'' he said. "But today we are looking at the fifth amendment to the Parliamentary Election Act and the previous four were all created by the UBP -- this is the party interested in improving democracy.

"Nobody is questioning the principle of this but some of the amendments are sloppy and some are going to make it awkward for officers and some have the potential to open up Bermuda's election process to fraud and abuse.'' Mr. Smith said he created fake identification cards to demonstrate "loopholes'' in the new legislation -- which relaxes the requirements for voter identification.

He said he produced the 16 different photo bearing id cards -- ranging from the Chess Club to the Exotic Dancers of Bermuda -- in one hour using a home computer system.

Voter IDs are now limited to drivers' licences, passports, or voter ID cards.

"Do we want to put a returning officer in that predicament where they might allow this card but not allow a Bank of Bermuda employee card?'' asked Mr.

Smith.

David Dodwell (UBP) said the Opposition generally supported the amendments, but he accused Government of moving too quickly in their attempt to fulfil campaign promises and losing sight of the issue of simplicity.

"It it really being fair? Are we moving from one state of fairness and at the same time making it more complicated for people?'' he asked.

Mr. Dodwell suggested Government use computer databases to ease the voter registration process.

And he questioned how much a public information campaign to educate the public about registration changes would cost.

Kim Young (UBP) said the previous use of Government-created documents ensured there would be no conflict between voters and voting officers.

She also questioned why Government had not included amendments to address problems of housebound voters and people whose travel schedule conflicted with election day.

Ottiwell Simmons (PLP) defended the legislation and said any faults cited by the Opposition were "weaknesses they (had) created themselves''.

Mr. Simmons also challenged Opposition concerns of overburdening the Registrar's office with the new system.

"This piece of legislation is not done to make work easier, it's designed to make it easier for the person who has reached the qualifying age to vote,'' said Mr. Simmons.

Allen Marshall (UBP) appealed for a bi-partisan approach to tackle the legislation which he said had "more holes than the Titanic ''and raised concerns about the lack of consideration for proxy votes and overseas students.

But Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb rejected Opposition attacks and said the legislation represented Government's "embracing'' of the right to vote by making the process as easy and accessible as possible for citizens.

Wrapping up the debate on the bill before going into committee, Ms Cox said Government would give returning officers guidelines to determine if a photo ID card was "satisfactory'' or not.

And she said the Registrar would have the power and authority to make changes to the registration list as necessary.

The Minister also added costs for the introduction and maintenance of the new system -- including a public relations campaign -- had been accounted for.

Ms Cox said the legislation would not be an immediate "cure'' for all the defects in existing legislation, but said some matters had to be dealt with before others.

The bill then moved into committee, where it was approved, with one roll call vote. It was given its third reading and will now be sent to the Senate.

Democratic: Paula Cox Historic: Lois Brown Evans Cut-off date: John Barritt