Hundreds of people who signed the Bermudians for Referendum petition are not registered voters, it has been revealed ? although the total number of bonafide signatures is still expected to be well over 13,000.

Speaking to yesterday, BFR organiser Michael Marsh said that as expected, a ?small minority? of the signatures have had to be struck off, but added that many of those affected expressed surprise at their ineligibility when contacted.

?We have gone to the trouble of calling the people who are not registered according to our information and many have insisted that they in fact are,? he said.

?Some have said that they were registered at the time of the last two General Elections and are somewhat mystified as to why they are no longer listed. I am not entirely sure how this has happened but obviously it is not satisfactory and needs to be sorted out. I would encourage all those who signed the petition to check what their current status is. This is important not just in the case of our petition but for the future General Election.?

The Independence lobby group are currently in the process of verifying the validity of every name on the petition ? which was removed from circulation on June 15 ? and are planning to formally present it to Premier Alex Scott early next month.

And despite the anticipated reduction in overall numbers, Mr. Marsh is still adamant they have already achieved their goal. ?We have already greatly exceeded the support required from the electorate to make a referendum on the issue of Independence mandatory,? he said.

?If you look at the voter turn-out for the last General Election, we have secured the backing of 45 percent of that number while we have over six times the recommended percentage support [five percent laid down in a directive from the European Union. The highest requirement to force a referendum anywhere is in Venezuela where the support of 25 percent of the electorate is expected. Again, we are above that as well.?