Bermuda deserves better checks and balances in the political sphere and a Voters Bill of Rights is a logical and sensible way of furthering those goals, allowing for more effective transformation and evolution.

We are facing an ever-changing world, and there are issues that governments are reluctant to address that the electorate could and should decide. Referendums are a much better form of proportional representation on specific issues and should be used much more regularly. Conversely, there are issues that governments don’t want input from the electorate over because it would interfere with agendas that are not always transparent.

The Voters Rights Association was established by Stuart Hayward and Geoff Parker in 2007 and by the election of 2012 had a membership of a few hundred people. The One Bermuda Alliance had committed to enacting the various items on the VRA wish list but then sadly lost sight of that commitment. Those in power had little to no interest in ceding any of that power, no matter how much sense it made. Ironically, there must have been considerable regret when that power was lost and an historic opportunity to implement much greater democracy and balance was squandered.

Subsequently, the VRA ensured that all candidates in the 2017 and 2025 elections were “onboarded“ for a Voters Bill of Rights. All candidates were sent a list of voters’ rights, including the right to referendums, fixed-term elections and absentee voting, and were invited to object to or opt out of those with which they disagreed.

Not one candidate “offboarded”, and therefore every Member of Parliament and any senator who stood for election as an MP has a moral obligation to enact a Voters Bill of Rights.

Inevitably, Bermuda’s Constitution will need to be amended to make sure that the Bill is legally sound and enforceable. As that seems to be on the Government’s agenda, it makes sense to incorporate those changes necessary to make the Voters Bill of Rights effective and robust.

With small but significant changes, Bermuda has the opportunity to create only the second semi-redirect democracy in the world — Switzerland is the first. A single amendment to the Referendum Act 2012 could allow petitions signed by 10 per cent of the electorate to lead to a binding referendum. It works in Switzerland and it can therefore work in Bermuda.

The committee that is tasked with making absentee voting and electoral reforms possible is to be commended, but this is a piecemeal approach to the wider issue of voters’ rights.

It also does little to appease the wider demands of the VRA for a Voters’ Bill of Rights. It was made clear by the electorate that the timing of the last General Election was cynical and deprived many of Bermuda’s youth being educated abroad from exercising their democratic right to vote.

Another item on the Voters’ Bill of Rights is fixed-period elections such as in the US that prevents the current politicking of the timing of Bermuda’s elections.

Autocracy never really works well because there are hidden agendas and decisions made that are not in the best interests of society. True democracy is always the better option and the Voters Bill of Rights puts Bermuda well on that path, where an informed electorate is enabled and entrusted to make sometimes difficult choices on a regular basis. These mechanisms keep democracy refreshed and tweaked rather than having a system that cedes power to one entity for years at a time.

Bermuda is a great success story in many respects but falls far short in others. The Westminster system is flawed, and the Voters Bill of Rights goes a long way to correct and counterbalance those inherent flaws without radical change that so often is disruptive and ineffective.

Both political parties have been hesitant to enact the sensible suggestions that were created by a broad cross-section of Bermuda’s society by 2012, and it is now time that all politicians honour their commitment and therefore their moral responsibility to create a Voters Bill of Rights.

This is too big an opportunity for a small rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to miss; an opportunity to positively influence the world at an extraordinary time when democracy is being challenged and eroded globally. Peaceful evolution through collective guardianship of society is by far the best solution.

It is time to actively engage with those who have been elected to be our guardians and respectfully demand that they further emancipate us all by passing an effective Voters Bill of Rights and selflessly cede power for the common good and to do what they all committed to do before the 2025 election.

• Ian Macdonald-Smith is co-chair of the Voters Rights Association