Election Playbook: Turn-out for what?

Dementia patients taken to vote: TV host Peppi Azzopardi was first to complain that his elderly mother, who suffers from dementia had been taken to a polling booth to vote during the week’s early voting session without the family’s consent. Many others reported similar cases, indicating a glaring problem in the way elderly patients tend to be escorted en masse out of their wards to vote. However, one SVDP staff member insisted that without a court application for their incapacitation any SVDP patient would have had their voting document issued, entitling them to the right to vote. 

PN wants prison vote recount: The Nationalist Party wants the voting process in prison for the general election to be cancelled and repeated again after ineligible prisoners were allowed to vote. PN secretary-general Michael Piccinino wrote a letter to the Electoral Commission saying that the voting process at the Corradino Correctional Facility was vitiated by serious shortcomings, with the 180 prisoners who were eligible to vote included tens of inmates who were legall disqualified from voting. In light of this, the PN said that the voting process that took place on Saturday at the CCF should be annulled and repeated. 

Turn out for what?: Data obtained by MaltaToday shows that 12% of eligible voters in the 12th District had not received or collected their voting document by Sunday, when the distribution at locality level came to an end. This district includes the large locality of St Paul’s Bay, where voter turnout is historically low. In this district, 3,398 voting documents from 28,243 remained uncollected. The 13th District, Gozo, had the second highest share of uncollected voting documents with 11%. There were 3,310 voting documents that remained uncollected from 30,902.  

Rain cheque: Robert Abela defended sending out stimulus and tax relief cheques two weeks before election day. During an interview on Xtra, Abela said that the €100 and €200 cheques served as a safety net against inflation, fending off rising prices from supply shortages and the spill-over effects of the war in Ukraine. The prime minister also insisted that government will have to keep energy prices stable in order to promote economic growth. Watch the full interview below. 

With or without you: Robert Arrigo suffered a brief slip-up during the Nationalist Party’s event on Monday evening. As he gestured to the large posters along the party’s tent, he accidentally misread the PN’s election slogan “Miegħek” (a singular “With you”) and said “Magħkom” (a plural version). He quickly recovered, stating “Kont magħkom, qiegħed magħkom, u ħa nerġa nkun magħkom” (I was with you all, I am with you all, and I will again be with you all). 

What’s happening today?: The Labour Party starts off with a 10am rally in Valletta. Robert Abela will then head to Raħal Ġdid at 6:30pm for a conversation event, and will then move to Gianpula at 8pm for another rally. The Nationalist Party will be holding their own mass rally in Rabat, Gozo at 6pm.