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Uncollected voting documents for European election total 37,000
10% of eligible voters in the European election have not collected their vote • Number of uncollected voting documents same as five years ago
7 June 2024, 6:44pm
Kurt Sansone
Kurt Sansone
2 min read
10% of eligible voters in the EP election did not collect their vote
Malta votes on Saturday to elect six MEPs, however 37,217 voters have refused to participate in the election by not collecting their voting document.
This equates to 10% of people who were eligible to vote in the European Parliament election. The number of uncollected votes is the same as five years ago.
Although not small, the number of uncollected votes was expected to be much higher given the consistent polling data that indicated a higher abstention rate this year. Although it still has to be seen what happens on election day tomorrow, the fact that the number of uncollected votes did not increase could be indicative of a higher than expected turnout.
This means that on Saturday there will be 332,967 eligible voters, including citizens from other EU countries who live in Malta and registered to vote here.
A significantly higher abstention was recorded among voters eligible to vote in local elections that will also be held on Saturday.
Nearly a quarter of eligible voters (24%) or 110,651 did not pick up their voting document by Thursday midnight. This means that 346,692 voters will be eligible to vote in local elections. These also include British nationals and foreigners who reside in Malta.
The elections will take place on Saturday with polling stations expected to open at 7am. They will close at 10pm.
Thousands of voters have already cast their vote early. These include those who opted to vote on Saturday 2 June because they are unable to do so tomorrow, elderly people in residential homes, hospital patients, police officers and assistant electoral commissioners who will be duty all day on Saturday.
According to TVM, until Friday, government has subsidised 854 Maltese nationals who live abroad and opted to book a flight on KM Malta Airlines to come and vote.
There are 39 candidates contesting the EP election – 29 men, nine women and a person with X gender.
There are 707 candidates contesting for local council seats – 519 men and 188 women. Elections will be held in all 68 local councils across Malta and Gozo with voters electing 476 councillors.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament's grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.
Kurt Sansone is Executive Editor of MaltaToday.
He was formerly deputy editor of MaltaTod...
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