process, it would settle the question of annual voter registration and dual seat constituencies.

That was the claim of Sen. Milton Scott (PLP), who was speaking on amended Parliamentary Election Act rules aimed at raising fees for election officials.

The rules, proposed by Government Senate Leader the Hon. Gerald Simons , were approved after a 40 minute debate.

Scrutineers make sure the final voters list compiled by the Registrar each year was accurate while returning and presiding officers supervised ballot counting and made sure the proper voting procedures were followed to the letter.

Sen. Simons said the fees paid to these individuals had not been increased since 1984.

Instead of the $7.50 scrutineers are currently paid, Government proposed to increase this to $10.

Returning officers who supervised a contested election would now be paid $250, while for an advanced poll they would get $100.

If the election was uncontested they would be paid $75.

Sen. Simons said in the past presiding officers were paid a fixed fee no matter how many hours they worked.

Now Government would pay $10 an hour for any work between 9.00 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Additional hours would fetch $15 an hour.

Those counting ballots for an advanced poll would receive $50 an hour, while any other persons who were assisting the process would be paid $8 an hour.

Sen. Scott (PLP) said the Senate should be debating annual voter registration and dual seat constituencies.

"Mechanisms should be put in place so we do not have to consider this issue (of fees) in a retroactive fashion,'' he said.

Sen. Scott said dual seat constituencies should be done away with because they were an example of institutionalised racism.

He said 2,500 mostly white voters in Paget had as much say as 5,000 voters in Warwick Parish -- a parish which was more reflective of Bermuda.

"This is an example of institutionalised racism,'' he said. "And if we are serious about holding ourselves up as a beacon of democracy this must be addressed.'' Sen. Terry Lister (PLP) said the yearly voter registration drive acted to disenfranchise rather than enfranchise Bermudian voters.

He said that although people moved between parishes regularly, overall the numbers did not change that significantly.

Sen. Lister said that it would be better if fellow senators could agree on what a proper level of increase would be for the scrutineers, returning and presiding officers.

Once that was done, then the increase could be pegged to the consumer price index which would automatically adjust the fee increases each year.

Sen. Lawrence Scott (UBP) chastised Sen. Milton Scott for singling out Paget.

He said that continually harping on the features that divided Bermudians did more harm than good.

Instead, Sen. Scott proposed that the issue of dual seat constituencies be looked at from the point of view of Bermudians, be they black, white or Portuguese.

Sen. Scott said that though the present system could be improved, on the whole the dual seat system was equitable.

Sen. Simons supported this and said a constituency like Southampton East was predominately black and was a PLP stronghold.

He said that though the question of boundaries was a sore one, no one could doubt that Bermuda was a democracy with both the Senate and the House reflecting the Island's racial makeup.

Sen. Simons added that both parties benefited from the present system. It was wrong to try to make it look like it was just the Government.

Sen. Neletha Butterfield (PLP) praised all those persons who assist the Registrar in getting an accurate voter's list prepared each year bit said the process should be reviewed.

Senator Simons said yearly voter registration was the best way to ensure the voter's list was accurate and that the country would be worse off it the public believed that the election list was suspect.

"I would not be surprised if in 100 years we have a totally different system,'' he said. "I don't see our current system as being fixed forever.'' He said that it was tempting to peg fee increases for scrutineers, returning and presiding officers to the Consumer Price Index.

But simply increasing the fees automatically would fuel inflation.

"Government finances should not simply be placed on automatic pilot,''he said. "They should be fixed by the Minister of Finance who would make a decision about whether the increases were appropriate.'' The Senate also approved the Parliamentary Election Amendment Act 1994 which would allow a fee to be charged whenever people wanted to acquire copies of the voters list.

Sen. Simons said Government would charge 30 cents for a page and $250 for a bound set of all 20 constituencies.