Registering people to vote is a priority for the Progressive Labour Party in the run-up to the next general election.

And the PLP's registration drive co-ordinator and party secretary Walter Roban said the drive, which kicked off January 1, ended last Friday.

The effort produced a record number of voters on the first draft list, he said.

Statistics on the number of people who registered during the drive will not be available until after the final draft register is published later this month.

"The PLP puts a strong effort into registration every year because we believe everyone who can participate should be able to do so,'' said Mr. Roban.

"It's particularly important to get young people on board.

"Voting is one of the ways Bermudians can express their views, influence, and power in the political process.

"We try to ensure changes to the law enhance the ability of the people to participate in the process, not to deny them access to the franchise.

"We want to make it as easy as possible to participate.'' Parliamentary registration has only been mandatory since 1979 and 18-year-olds were granted the right to vote as recently as 1990, said Mr. Roban.

He added that because of the heightened awareness about registration, there was a record draft list of 31,000.

The usual number of people registered in the first draft is between 25,000 and 27,000.

POLITICS PTL