A number of voters registered in the wrong electoral constituency probably don't want to be found.

And Government House is not persuaded that a wholesale re-registration of voters is necessary as a result of electoral reform, Deputy Governor Tim Gurney said yesterday.

"We are not convinced that a re-registration process will make the register more accurate than it currently is. We need to encourage people to modify their registration where necessary rather than try to get everyone to reregister."

While he accepts that the register may be inaccurate, Mr. Gurney said that re-registration could increase the errors in the voter's list not correct them.

"The Parliamentary Registrar (Sabrina Phillips) believes that the margin of error of the current register is significantly lower than the 30 percent that would prevail with a wholesale re-registration. We understand that the margin of error is in the single figures."

The Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) has consistently called for re-registration, saying that wiping the slate clean and starting over will clear any confusion in people's minds as to where their voting district is and lead to a more accurate register.

"Government House is aware that there is a discrepancy between the views of some of the political parties and the Parliamentary Registrar on the degree of accuracy of the register. Government House has asked the Parliamentary Registrar to analyse figures produced by the political party and try and explain this discrepancy."

For now, however, it appears that Government House has been persuaded by Ms Phillips' arguments.

"We have also encouraged the Parliamentary Registrar to carry out the publicity campaign that she has already planned, to encourage people to check that they are registered in the right constituency," Mr. Gurney continued.

The UBP has said that as many as 35 percent of voters could be registered in the wrong district as a result of changing their residence and not updating their registration - a point strongly refuted by Ms Phillips.

The office of the Parliamentary Registrar has decided to electronically adapt the register to reflect the new constituencies.

But the law does not allow the Parliamentary Registrar to update the list to reflect address changes.

And, says Mr. Gurney, "We're led to understand that there are some in the community who do not want to appear on the voters' register and this may itself lead to some inaccuracy."

UBP Senator Leonard Santucci yesterday backed away from the 35 percent inaccuracy estimate which was made by his party Leader Grant Gibbons.

"I think there was some confusion over statistics," he said.

"I don't put a statistic to it. I just accept that there is an inaccuracy."

He added that he had not been reassured by recent statements by Ms Phillips which attempted to put the issue into perspective.

"If we can change the number and the demographics why not wipe the slate clean and engage in an electoral process of re-registration for the benefit of the candidate and the constituency?"

Sen. Santucci insisted.

His argument hangs on the fact that that he found some 72 people incorrectly registered as Pembroke East Central voters during that districts by-election in December. And he pointed out that most of the 72 remained on the list even after he had informed the Parliamentary Registrar of the inaccuracy.

But he acknowledged that Pembroke East Central has some unique characteristics such as the presence of the Salvation Army Shelter whose residents change fairly frequently.

Sen. Santucci took great pains to say that he felt that the Parliamentary Registrar and her staff were doing a "superb job" but that the problem was in the process.

It is in fact easier to remove dead people from the list than people who simply moved out of the constituency, he said.

The Senator also questioned whether the Parliamentary Registrar will have time to do a massive publicity campaign.

"Madam Premier may call an election. There is a potential for conflict between the intent of the Parliamentary Registrar's office and the opportunity for political expediency from the Premier's office."