The Parliamentary Registrar has rejected claims that registration details for more than one in ten voters could be incorrect.

Randy Scott said claims by Voters' Rights Association President, Geoff Parker, that up to 13 percent of voters could be breaking the law in the forthcoming general election were "way off".

He said the Parliamentary Registrar's Office constantly updated the details of individual voters as they moved or passed on.

In a letter to Mr. Scott and the main political parties, Mr. Parker claimed that when voters in St. George's were invited to attend a VRA meeting, "many of the letters were returned, one of which was marked 'deceased' and the rest 'moved'".

He wrote: "Under normal circumstances this would not raise any eyebrows but as we were using the June 15, 2007 'official' Parliamentary Register, which cost us $250, it has raised some concerns, especially when one considers the percentages of the 'random' mailings that were returned from each constituency."

Mr. Parker said that from 316 letters sent out, 40 were returned and one had the wrong address, resulting in "41 changes to the 'official' Parliamentary Register".

The VRA President said that the figure equated to 13 out of every 100 voters being "registered in once place and living in another", or 5,200 out of the 40,000 registered voters on the Island. "If they try to vote they could be breaking the law," said Mr. Parker.

He went on to say that "undetected illegal voters" could swing the results of an election, just by voting in the wrong constituency. "Can we leave the next general election up to chance?" he asked. "With just a few votes separating many constituencies, the errors we have found should be more than enough to raise the alarm bells."

The VRA President did not place the blame at the Parliamentary Registrar's Office door, but said: "It is the system or process set out in the Election Act. The process is in serious need of reform and that is the responsibility of Parliament and in particular, the Minister in charge of this area.

"We hope that the powers that be will have this existing process reviewed and verify full voter registration in the lead up to any future general election."

Mr. Scott however, said: "Our Register is continually changing." He said that since the publication of the official Register on June 15, many Bermudians would have moved house or "shopped for a better rent".

"Bermudians are constantly moving around this country, but we do our best to keep up with it and we continue to remind voters that once they move they have 28 days to notify this office (under the Parliamentary Election Act)," said Mr. Scott.

He added that the 36 PLP and 36 UBP scrutineers worked closely with the Registrar's Office in keeping individual voter details in each constituency up to date, as outlined under the 1972 Parliamentary Election Act.

"Our office is too small to deal with 42,000 names. This is why we have scrutineers," said Mr. Scott.

"They work closely with us to make sure the Register is as accurate. They find out who is deceased and who has moved in or out of the constituency, and they carry our registration forms, that's how we keep our Register correct."

He added he was "somewhat surprised" by the claims.

"Last year we conducted an extensive voters campaign, sending forms to households, asking voters to confirm their details were correct. Out of 19,000 voter households in Bermuda we got back over 8,000, which is pretty good. We had a robust campaign and got good results," he said.

He suggested postal difficulties, such as letters deposited in post boxes rather than street addresses, and people throwing correspondence away as 'junk mail' could also have affected Mr. Parker's figure of 13 percent.

"I understand his point but we're doing everything we can, and I reject his calculations. I think they are way-off," said Mr. Scott.

"On the eve of an election, when I go to the returning officers in each constituency, I know I can say with confidence that their register will be accurate — not 100 percent, as we have to take into account that people die and move all the time, but it will be as close as it can be."

Mr. Scott said: "We continue to remind voters to check their registration details. Go online and do it, or send your information to us. With voting comes responsibility. The onus is on the voter to make sure their details are correct."