Bermudians head to polling stations today in a historic general election that both parties feel confident of winning. Today’s poll is the first to be held under redrawn constituency boundaries since the single seat electoral system was introduced in 2003, the first to be held without the United Bermuda Party and the first to have as many as 15 independent candidates seeking office since the advent of party politics 50 years ago. And the election is also taking place in the context of the worst economic recession in living memory for most of the 43,767 voters who are registered to cast their ballots today.
A total of 87 candidates are hoping to be make it into the House of Assembly — 48 of them have never served as parliamentarians before. At least eight of the 48 would be neophytes will make it into parliament. Both parties have presented broadly similar proposals and have vowed to tackle unemployment as a priority if elected.
And both have sought to tarnish the credibility of the other in marathon campaigning that started months before the Premier’s announcement of the election date last month.
The new boundaries, which were redrawn two years ago but came into effect when the election writ was dropped has radically changed the electoral map leaving only one district, the marginal St George’s West, with the same boundaries it had in 2003 and 2007.
Full Article: Historic election for Island | Bermuda Politics.