Both political parties failed to canvass half of registered voters in the past four months, according to a poll commissioned by The Royal Gazette last week.

Asked how often their One Bermuda Alliance candidate had visited them since March, 58 per cent of people said never, 20 per cent said once and the remaining 22 per cent said twice or more.

Asked how often their Progressive Labour Party candidate had visited in that time frame, 63 per cent said never, 25 per cent said once and 12 per cent said twice or more.

It comes after political observers complained that residents were not being given much chance to assess their candidates or seriously discuss the issues ahead of what some have described as a snap General Election.

Both sides only finished unveiling their slates of candidates in late June, less than three weeks before today’s election, with former PLP Cabinet minister Ashfield DeVent suggesting many newcomers would not even have time to visit all their constituents.

Mr DeVent and former Attorney-General Phil Perinchief have said both parties appeared unprepared for this election, called by Michael Dunkley, the Premier, under the threat of a vote of no confidence pushed by David Burt, the Leader of the Opposition.

They noted platforms were released only in the two weeks leading up to the big day.

Earlier this month, Mr Perinchief said: “What campaign? Had there been any from either side, I don’t see it.”

The Global Research telephone poll of 400 registered voters took place between Tuesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of +/- 5 per cent.

A breakdown of results shows the parties were considerably more likely to canvass voters who do not belong to their traditional race base.

Only 17 per cent of whites reported receiving a visit from their OBA candidate, compared with 55 per cent receiving a visit from their PLP candidate.

Among blacks, 59 per cent were visited by their OBA candidate and 27 per cent by their PLP candidate.

When voters did receive visits from candidates, the reaction was generally positive.

Some 76 per cent of people said they were satisfied with the most recent visit from their OBA candidate, with 6 per cent saying they were dissatisfied; 71 per cent were satisfied with the most recent visit from their PLP candidate, with 11 per cent dissatisfied.

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