Independent members of the Boundaries Commission played a crucial role in the final outcome of the body's report on future electoral arrangements for Bermuda.

Without their input the Commission may well have released a minority report from one of the political parties.

As it turned out the Commissioners were unanimous in their recommendation of the number and boundaries of single seat constituencies.

According to the report, the four politically appointed members, John Barritt (UBP), Pamela Gordon (UBP), Dame Lois Browne Evans (PLP) and Eugene Cox (PLP), could not come to an agreement on the number of constituencies.

Ruling party members recommended 32 seats while the Opposition members recommended 39 plus an appointed Speaker, it said confirming earlier media reports.

That allowed the Commission to focus on selecting a number between 32 and 39 after considering other views that had been submitted.

"The Commission was of the view that the basic size of a constituency should not simply be determined by dividing the current total number of eligible voters by the number of constituencies - whatever that number might be - but rather on what should also be considered to be a reasonable and manageable size of a constituency.

Adopting this approach, the Commission was able to further reduce its choices of the number of constituencies eventually to be between 35 and 36."

It adds: "In the interest of reaching unanimity... the political members were urged by their colleagues on the Commission to see their way to discharge their duty in the best interests of the country as a whole and to agree among the four of them to one number."

The final decision was only made during the final session of sittings, it continued.

The report also dealt with arguments concerning the number of cabinet Ministers and whether they should be paid on a full-time basis.

"The Commission was moved to point out... that there is nothing in the current Constitution to prevent the appointment of a lesser number of Ministers... nor to prevent them from being remunerated on a full-time basis," it states.

"And further, that the question of the number or composition or terms of appointment of the Cabinet was not within its mandate.

The Commission was assisted by a host of civil servants from the Statistics, Work and Engineering and Computer Systems and Services Department in coming up with the boundaries.

Computer software was used in the initial generation of the boundaries which were manually adjusted to accommodate Bermuda's unique geography and to make the electoral map more user friendly.

The report lists the names of 60 people who made oral submissions at public meetings, and another 74 who sent in written submissions.

A separate list identifies some 100 people who filled in questionnaires designed by the lobby group the Association for Due Process and the Constitution.