A Bermudian student studying in America claims the Government is making it impossible for him to vote.

Calvin Stovell, who is studying at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will not be able to return home in time to vote as he is cramming for exams.

He is one of about 1,100 students studying abroad who will not be able to vote on Monday unless they return to the Island under their own steam. Earlier this week a PLP organised charter flight, scheduled to carry 173 students from the US, had to be scrapped because of a lack of cash donations.

"After hearing about the date of the election I was disappointed in that I could not vote.

"The Honourable Pamela Gordon and her UBP team have done it again. They have again ignored us -- the young, the conscientious, the future.

As much as many of us work two, sometimes three, jobs during the summer and as we can during the actual school year, to attend school and stay in school with little or no help from the Government, to secure our futures and enhance Bermuda's, we are delivered this slap.

"By announcing that the election will be held in November 9, Premier Gordon and the UBP are slapping the faces of the college and university students -- eligible voters -- who are still hitting the books getting ready for finals.

We are therefore rendered powerless in a process that will shape and determine our country's path for the next five years at least - a country that we will soon inherit.

"This is not in any way a declaration of my political persuasion but when the UBP has made obvious attempts to exclude our vote, the students away in the US, UK and Canada pursuing academic excellence, then I have to wonder if they have our best interests in mind.'' But yesterday UBP campaign chairman Mike Winfield dismissed Mr. Stovell's claims.

And he said the current Government has an excellent track record when it came to serving the Island's youth.

"The date of an election has to be chosen with a number of considerations, the most important being what is right for the country. To hold an election in the middle of summer, given the fact that we are a tourism island, would stop the Island in the middle of the season and would be totally wrong -- it would be questioned by every responsible person in Bermuda.

"What this student seems to have forgotten is that this Government has done a great deal for the youth of this country. It was this Government that lowered the voting age to 18 and I don't think any government has, proportionally, invested as much in its young people. Look at CedarBridge, Berkeley, the building of a national sports centre. The number of scholarships and student support provided by the Government is unparalleled -- how quickly we forget.'' Mr. Winfield also hinted that a change in legislation, allowing overseas students to vote by post in future elections, might be considered.

"There are all kinds of options -- the process is constantly evolving,'' he said.