Controversy over absentee ballots for voters overseas flared up again this week after the One Bermuda Alliance criticised the Progressive Labour Party for a failure to fast-track the electoral change.But the PLP highlighted other reforms it had introduced, including advanced polling for seniors and allowing anyone with a plane ticket to “come and vote with their ticket”.A member of the public, who asked not to be named, said he would be off the island on October 1, and also during the early voting period weeks before the election.He said the Parliamentary Registry Office had informed him “no absentee voting will be available for the election”.The man was concerned that this was during a time when travel was difficult and “people could be wary of voting in person as they are vulnerable”.He added: “The election is also being held during a time when some eligible voters are away at school and have no simple way to return to cast their votes.“Apart from myself being unable to vote, my sister, who is another registered voter, is away for school in Canada and unable to travel back, as she would miss weeks of school by having to quarantine upon returning to Canada.“I also have a vulnerable grandfather who is uncomfortable with being out in public and is debating whether it is even safe for him to vote in public and would prefer absentee voting.”Susan Jackson, the Shadow Minister of Government Reform in the last Parliament, said earlier that the General Election should have been called for December instead of October 1, with mail voting introduced to “help protect people’s health and reach Bermudians unable to travel home”.The debate about absentee voting, particularly to cover the overseas student vote, dates back decades.The OBA pledged to make the change when the party was in Opposition in 2011 in a Reply to the Throne Speech under the PLP government.The OBA reaffirmed the push for absentee balloting in December 2012, just after the party assumed power in that year’s General Election.Absentee voting would require legislative change through amendments to the Parliamentary Election Act.