The PLP may take to the air to boost its chances of General Election victory sky-high.

For the party is trying to set up charter flights for students overseas to bring them home to cast their votes.

The Royal Gazette understands that party bosses are working on special flights from Canada and the US.

It is believed they have targeted Toronto and Atlanta as the key airports to maximise turnout on November 9.

And hundreds of extra ballots in a country where constituencies can be decided by a handful of votes could swing the balance in key marginals.

PLP workers were yesterday tight-lipped over their plans -- but it is understood an announcement on charter flights may be in the works for today.

PLP may launch election flights PLP chiefs have already pointed out that the General Election was called when many youngsters are abroad at college and university -- a substantial proportion claimed by the party as its own -- and unable to vote.

And party leader Jennifer Smith, at the opening of the party's annual delegates' conference last Monday, stressed the importance of the youth vote, particularly first- and second-time voters.

She added, however, that PLP surveys showed only between two-thirds and three-quarters of young voters intended to use their ballot papers and urged party workers to emphasise the importance of using the vote.

The Royal Gazette reported last week that charter flights had been discussed by the relevant PLP committee, but that no decisions had been made.

A party spokesman confirmed, however, that they were considering a sponsorship scheme to help pay cash-strapped students' flights.

Bermuda allows for advance polling for those who will be abroad on polling day but -- unlike the UK on which the Bermuda Parliament is modelled -- there is no provision for proxy or postal voting.

The PLP's election platform, released at the weekend, pledges to establish single-seat constituencies of equal size, with a corresponding reduction in the number of MPs.

But the section on Legislative Affairs fails to mention the introduction of proxy and postal votes.

Lawyer and ex-PLP candidate Phil Perinchief, however -- who is standing as an Independent in Pembroke West -- called for proxy and postal votes in his platform, issued last week.

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