Two young Bermudians have started a campaign to get online voting implemented for those studying overseas.The move came amid concerns that students who cannot make it home for the December 17 general election will not be able to participate.More than 240 people had already pledged their support to the campaign by yesterday evening, just 24 hours after it was launched.One of the students behind the initiative, Danielle Lightbourn, 18, said: “I believe that all Bermudians are entitled to vote. I do feel that it is a breach of human rights to prevent a registered Bermudian from voting simply because they are doing examinations overseas on the date of the 2012 election.“Many Bermudians between the ages of 18-25 are overseas working on undergraduate and graduate degrees and are unable to come home to vote due to examination schedules. Many of these Bermudians are bettering themselves so that they can come home and better Bermuda.“As a result, Kelsey Pichery and I have developed a page on Facebook with the hope of obtaining online voting for Bermudians studying overseas. If we can register to vote online, why is it that we cannot vote online? We live in a computer-savvy world.”She said visitors to the page, which can be found by visiting www.facebook.com/UnderstandingYourRightToVote can click on an online survey to identify the number of registered voters unable to participate in the 2012 election.“Through this initiative, we hope to obtain online voting for Bermudians who are unable to be in Bermuda to vote,” said Ms Lightbourn. “By passing online voting through legislation, all Bermudians will be free to vote for the future of their Island.”Ms Lightbourn, from Smith’s, is working in Bermuda at present to save money for next year, when she hopes to study human resources at university in the UK.Ms Pichery, 18, from Devonshire, is studying Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Her last exam is two days after the election, on December 19. She hopes to work as a lawyer in Bermuda one day.She said: “It would mean so much to me to have online voting. I don’t come home until February. Finally I have a chance to vote and put my opinion forward on how my country is run and I can’t.”“I hope that if we can get enough media attention and enough political attention, we can finally bring this to light and fix it.”She said of the positive response to the campaign: “Even last night two hours after we started it we have 50 ‘likes’ and we just started crying because we were so happy. We weren’t expecting it to be so viral.”Ms Lightbourn and Ms Pichery both stressed that while they plan to vote for the Opposition One Bermuda Alliance, their campaign is non-partisan.One Bermuda Alliance Leader Craig Cannonier said: “We commend Danielle Lightbourn, Kelsey Pichery and other students for getting involved in the fight to have their voices heard. Bermuda is their country as much as anyone else’s and they should be able to have a say in its future.”He said the OBA would overhaul the Parliamentary Elections Act to extend the advance poll for those who are travelling, and give absentee ballots to students living abroad if they are elected.“Our aim is to bring people together, not just to work together but to give them a greater say in the future of their Island. This is the kind of hope and change we want for Bermuda,” he said.“We are confident online voting can become a reality. There will be no difficulty in adopting a system whereby absentee ballots are made available to students who are on the voters’ list.”Attempts to reach a spokeswoman for Premier Paula Cox were unsuccessful last night.Useful website:http://www.facebook.com/UnderstandingYourRightToVote