§ Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what franchise qualifications are required in Bermuda; how long they have been in force; and what proposals he has in mind for extending the franchise.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Parliamentary Election Act, 1945, of Bermuda stipulates the following qualifications from an elector
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- "(a) he must be over the age of twenty-one years; and
- (b) he must be a British subject; and
- (c) he must not be a person subject to legal incapacity within the meaning of subsection (2) of section 2 of this Act [by reason of imprisonment, insanity; or having been convicted of an electoral offence]; and
- (d) he must own a freehold estate in land in that parish, being land which, when last assessed for parish purposes, was assessed at sixty pounds or more; and
- (e) he must be registered in the parliamentary register of that parish."
The franchise in Bermuda has been based on ownership of freehold property since 1789, when the required valuation was£40. This figure was increased to£100 in 1834 and reduced to£60 in 1841, at which figure it has remained to date. Women received the franchise by the Women's Suffrage Act, 1944.
No recent demands have been received by the Bermuda Government from representative bodies for an extension of the franchise. No proposals for such a change are before me at the present time.