Former United Bermuda Party Leader Kim Swan is calling for an end to racial bloc voting in Bermuda elections a practice which he says plays a key role in General Elections and which “retards social progress”.But Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the One Bermuda Alliance, which appears to have inherited the white vote from the UBP, last night said that his party will not question the way people vote.“On the eve of 2012, overt racial polarisation and en bloc voting continues to dwell in Bermuda where a large percentage of the 36 seats are deemed foregone conclusions. If you feel that this is unacceptable in modern day Bermuda - what can we as a people do to change this?” Mr Swan asks on his Facebook page.Mr Swan initially went public with his concern about racial voting patterns when asked for reaction to this newspaper’s political opinion poll earlier this month.The poll revealed that 88 percent of white voters said they would vote for the One Bermuda Alliance, as compared to 52 percent of black voters who would opt for the Progressive Labuor Party.In a vigorous discussion he started on his Facebook page on December 23, Mr Swan agreed that the white community votes en bloc, while the black community is “more objective” in its voting patterns. Two other former UBP Leaders, the OBA Deputy Leader Senator Michael Dunkley and Tourism Minister Wayne Furbert joined the discussion, and claimed that they too had worked to end racial polarisation while in the UBP, claims confirmed by Mr Swan.Mr Swan described Michael Dunkley’s move in 2007 to “a more difficult seat” as “an attempt to step outside of the enclaves of stereotypical voting patterns”.“His doing so was in part, as a result of the Party’s concern with racial enblock voting and an attempt to win in a PLP held seat (the only way to win government). This was done (I believe) at Wayne Furbert’s urging - but he (MHD) was left holding the bag by others who lacked the courage to do the same as was suggested. Wayne Furbert and others repeatedly urged our party to focus on breaking down the racial polarisation. The unfortunate thing is that MPs who hold safe seats tend to dominate the policies of political parties.”And he told his more than 2,000 Facebook friends that while some in the UBP “have long spoken against polarisation” others “were more concerned with the preservation of the spoils of polarisation, which guarantees seats based on race.”Mr Swan is also calling on this newspaper to lead a campaign against the practice of “racial polarisation during elections” - a request turned down by Editor Bill Zuill.But he says, ultimately, people must change in order for “real change” to occur.“It was, and is, those people who benefited from and continue to benefit from racial polarisation who are the real problem and reason racial polarisation dwells abundantly in Bermuda in 2011,” he says on the social media site.In response to a comment, Mr Swan said that “dismantling polarisation was not a main agenda item” for the UBP.But he insisted that current voting patterns meant that general elections are decided by a few marginal constituencies which was a ”socially unhealthy” situation.“If we want the best Bermuda for our children and grandchildren, we need to be committed to breaking the chains of this socially unhealthy situation. We need to consider reform to the electoral system to see if we can move away from its existence.”Mr Swan also reminded his audience of what he called an “ugly racial ad” placed by the UBP aimed at Progressive Labour Party candidate Delaey Robinson during the 1998 election campaign which saw his party lose power for the first time.The UBP never regained power and currently only two MPs - Charles Swan and Kim Swan - sit in the House of Assembly under the UBP banner.Premier and PLP party Leader Paula Cox declined to offer any comments for this story when contacted.But the OBA Leader Craig Cannonier, said that his party does not question the way people vote.“Is he (Swan) saying the way people vote is not good for the people? Is he saying racial en bloc voting is a voter problem?” he asked.“We have no problem, and will never have a problem with the way people vote. People must vote for whichever party they believe will best protect and support their interests. Convincing people to vote for one party over another is what democratic politics is all about.”He went on to say that “race-based voting is a party problem, not a people problem”.“For example, it is very possible that white people have not supported the PLP in the past because the PLP has never made them feel welcome. That, it seems to us, is the PLP challenge.”He continued: “The OBA is a new party that has not yet fought an election, so it is premature to describe who they will ultimately draw support from regardless of what recent polls say.”The OBA, he said, is working toward “a Bermuda where people feel a common destiny and don’t believe their ‘group’ has to be in power to be safe or to thrive. We are, in other words, a party committed to serving all of Bermuda and we look forward to doing just that.”On Mr Swan’s request for this newspaper to lead a campaign, Editor Bill Zuill said: “The Royal Gazette will not take up Mr Swan’s suggestion. Any such campaign could result in the newspaper telling people to vote for a particular party, which is emphatically not a newspaper’s job.“In any event, the people ideally placed to break voting patterns are the politicians themselves. In country after country, when people have been given a good enough reason to change, they have done so. Bermuda is no different.”