The Registrar General's Office has come under fire for refusing to allow some residents leaving or returning to the Island on Election Day to vote in advance.

A voter, who did not wish to be named, told The Royal Gazette her mother and 68-year-old grandmother are both scheduled to leave Bermuda on a 7 a.m. flight on November 9 -- three hours before the polls open.

But the same office which yesterday granted her mother a certificate to vote in the Advance Poll on November 2, denied her grandmother such a certificate just hours later.

"I went down to get her certificate around 2 p.m. and was told she could not receive one because she was leaving the Island on Election Day,'' the concerned Sandys Parish woman said. "They are putting up a wall to voters.'' Registrar General Marlene Christopher explained that the Parliamentary Election Act only allowed people to vote in advance if they expected to be "absent from Bermuda on polling day''.

The Act, she pointed out, did not specify times. Therefore, if a person was leaving or returning to Bermuda outside of the polling period -- 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., they could not be considered absent on polling day.

She also confirmed that two people, who were scheduled to leave Bermuda on November 9, had received advance voters' certificates.

But she said this was allowed early yesterday morning, prior to her office receiving a ruling from the Attorney General's Chambers.

However, the concerned voter -- whose grandmother will not be allowed to vote -- said the ruling was unfair.

"Regardless of whether they are on the Island, any registered voter should be allowed to vote,'' she said. "She (her grandmother) wants to vote. She's very irate and upset about this.'' Mrs. Christopher said she was seeking another ruling on the Act and will notify the public about the decision.

But when asked whether his Chambers were reviewing the Act, Attorney General Elliott Mottley said he could not comment.