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Greens accuse Labour, Nationalists of misleading voters on electoral procedure
AD - ‘Electoral Commission must explain voting procedure’
5 March 2013, 12:00am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
1 min read
Aternattiva Demokratika has called upon the Electoral Commission to inform the general public about the voting procedure, including the possibility of voting for more than one party on the ballot sheet (cross-voting), and the way that votes are inherited whenever a candidate is eliminated or exceeds their quota.
"This in light of reports that the candidates of the two main political parties are misleading the general public about the voting procedure," Michael Briguglio, AD Chaiperson, said.
"Permitting deception about the voting system and failing to inform the public about their voting rights is tantamount to tampering with the electoral process and risks invalidating it."
Briguglio said he was publicly inviting Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Labour leader Joseph Muscat and the Electoral Commission to clearly explain how one can vote. "Currently some candidates are misinforming and deceiving the public, in house visits, and this should be corrected by Gonzi and Muscat. The truth is that cross-party voting is valid, and that votes to AD can be inherited by other parties. Cross-party voting means you can vote all or any parties and candidates in the ballot list, in any sequence of preference you want."
Under Malta's single-transferable vote, voters can give their first preference (number one) to any political party, and then give their second preference to another party, their third to another party, and finish off voting for any mix of candidates on the ballot sheet.
Under the voting system, all second and subsequent preferences are transferred to the other candidates from elected candidates, or eliminated candidates.
AD Secretary General Ralph Cassar has contacted the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission in Malta and informed them of this issue.
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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Nixtieq nuri solidarjeta ma l-AD ghal qlajja ohra li GonziPN maghruf ghalihom- din id-darba kontra Michael Brigulio! Wara li gidbu fuq Harry Vassallo issa imiss lil Michael...wara li ipprovaw hmistax ilu -jixlu lil Toni Abela ( nerd u habib tieghi mill-kbar) bi traffikar ta droga. Ara minn se jemminhom li Toni favur id-droga! Mhux hekk, talli ma jisthix Dr Gonzi jilqa fi hdanu lil dik l-istess persuna li kecca Toni imhabba id-droga biex jghajjru lil Toni!!!!!! Mela hsibtuna kollha cwiec bhal ma jahsibna Tonio Fenech?
eleonoray86cws Ca?uana •
@man in the street: Are you trying to justify lies and deception? Do you really feel happy that in their home visits politicians who try to gain your trust lie to you on how the system works?
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"Currently some candidates are misinforming and deceiving the public" Isn't that a given in Malta and all around the world.Politicians are slick and seldom tell the truth because if they did they will not be elected to start with. Even if a politician starts out well and means well he will be corrupted right after the election or he will not survive. If you do not believe me, why not study the subject yourself. When they say politics are dirty that most makes politicians dirty. Again judge for yourself. Just in Malta alone you can see the incompetence and the mischief in our politics which run in every government department. Again if you doubt what I am saying, think again. An old man once told me that you cannot be a politician and honest at the same time. I am starting to understand what he meant. Not all politicians are bad but most are. That is why we need a watchdog in Parliament to look out for us Second Class Citizens and to me Franco Debono was one of those watchdogs but for now he is not there anymore and therefore we need somebody from the AD Party to lookout for us mortals..By the way don't kill the messenger because I know I am right..
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How sensitive AD are.
Informing one's constitutents how to vote, which may not suit AD, is being taken as "tantamount to tampering with the electoral process and risks invalidating it". Unbelievable!!
Then what should the PL do with all the power of incumbency, one sided broadcasting and utter lies coming from government and the PN?
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What does AD expect, that candidates from the big parties urge the electorate to vote for AD? Why didn't AD carry out enough house visits, in order to explain what they call 'voting procedure'?
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I have to admit to being one of those who have never understood how it works. Can Malta Today explain the process using examples so that we will all be better informed please? Thanks.
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JIDHER LI AD QED JITLALA ID DEM GHAL RASA VOTLIL AD VOT MOHLI AHJAR ITTUH LIL PARTIT TA LAJKLA GHAZ AKTAR TGHAMEL SENS SUR BRIGULIO QED TAQTA FIGURA KERA HAFNA FLAHHAR TAL MAZZITA SIBT LIZBIBA
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Allow me just a small observation!
What is there to reap for these candidates once elected? Surely they are not all in this brawl to gain power to be of service for us common mortals because I do not believe so.
If the past is a mirror that one can go by, one can see most of those elected once elected, treat the same electorate as dirty cloths, one wonder if for us all it is all worth it to get so excited, or we still have the tribal mentality that we fight for the Party God and Country.
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Another reason why Malta's electoral process is still so primitive and has little to do with what one would normally expect in a Western democracy. Why does the Electoral Commission not show announcements on TV stations, informing the public on how to vote? Those watching Italian TV in the days prior to the elections there could see such announcements. In Malta, the Electoral Commission has abdicated its role and surrendered it to the political parties, who, on their own stations, do show announcements with instructions on how to vote, but of course these are biased towards their own party. In a way, these political adverts can be considered as constituting misleading annoucements as they sort of imply that a vote is valid only if an elector votes for a particular party.
Funnily enought, I do remember public service announcements on TVM on how to vote, made by the Electoral Commissiion, when TVM was the only station available. A question of one step forward, two steps back, perhaps?
