Don't play with fire, MP warns as 2pm turnout shocks Labour

A significant drop in turnout by 2pm has shocked the Labour Party with MP Jean Claude Micallef warning electors “not to play with fire”.

Micallef, who is contesting the Third District where the 2pm turnout stood at 38.9%, warned voters that the country “risked falling in the hands of people like Fenech Adami, Jason Azzopardi and Bernard Grech”.

“Let us not play with fire… the proposals become meaningless if you do not go out and vote,” Micallef said in a Facebook video recorded live as he walked to the polling station in Żejtun to go and cast his vote.

A similar warning came from Labour Party deputy leader Daniel Micallef, who on Facebook said that he has always ignored surveys, which were giving the PL a vote advantage as high as 38,000 in some cases, noting that people had until 10pm to choose the country’s destiny.

“Afterwards it will be too late,” Micallef warned.

The last MaltaToday rolling survey published on Thursday night gave the PL a 28,000-vote advantage over the Nationalist Party and was projecting a drop in valid votes cast of 87%.

The lowest turnout at 2pm was in the 12th District where 37.7% voted, followed by the Second District, a Labour stronghold, where 38.3% voted.

While lower turnouts were registered across all districts, some of the more significant drops occurred in Labour leaning areas. However, the 11th District, which is traditionally PN has also suffered a drop of almost 12 points in turnout with 39.3% of voters going out to vote by 2pm.