A Pembroke East Central constituent almost lost the opportunity to vote in next week's by-election because of an error on the voters' rolls.

But the error was corrected yesterday by the Office of the Parliamentary Registrar which maintains the voters' list and conducts elections.

Parliamentary Registrar Sabrina Phillips said that the error was a "very, very rare occurrence".

Lisa Lewis, who lives in a house on the boundary of Pembroke East Central and Pembroke West Central, was shocked to be told that she was in fact registered in Pembroke West Central when she called into the office to confirm her registration.

She had moved to Pembroke in 2000 from Sandys.

Her sister, who lives in an apartment in the same building, is registered in Pembroke East Central, explained Ms Phillips.

"We have since confirmed that she should be in Pembroke East Central," she said, "and we are trying to determine from Land Valuation why it was in Pembroke West Central in the first instance."

Ms Phillips said that she was confident that the error was not widespread and confirmed that no building should be split between two constituencies.

"It's not something we have seen before. It's certainly not something we hope to see. I think it's one of those strange issues."

She added: "It could very well be nothing more than a typographical error when the building was put into the system."

And she said that her office did not know the history of the building, but that the Land Valuation office was assisting with their inquiries.

"It was one of those very, very rare occurrences.

"Anyone who has any issues should bring it to our attention and we will do what we can to address it without delay."

The matter was brought to this newspaper's attention by United Bermuda Party's (UBP) Leonard Santucci, who is contesting the seat.

"This is another indication where the annual registration could have sorted this out," he said.

"With the annual registration it would eliminate confusion. On one occasion she was informed she was eligible and on another she was told she was not eligible.

"The problem here is they are digging back two years for documentation. So if you are doing this annually and on an annual basis publishing it --to my mind's eye there should not be a problem."

The UBP is calling for a wholesale re-registration of voters before moving from the current dual seat electoral system to a single seat one.