European election day: Voting comes to an end

Voting time has officially come to an end, as ballot boxes are sealed and sent on their way to the Naxxar counting hall where counting shall begin on Sunday morning. 

It was a relatively quiet European and local council election day, save for one surprise that took voters and political parties by surprise.

In the middle of election day, the Electoral Commission announced for the first time that it had changed the way by which it calculates the voter turnout. This was explained only after the 2pm turnout was announced.

The turnout for the European Parliament election at 2pm was 42.6% according to the Electoral Commission.

Similarly, the local council elections turnout at 2pm stood at 41.1%.

However, this figure may be misleading and cannot possibly be compared to the turnout of previous MEP and local council elections, as the figures also include early voting that took place over the past week.

On top of that, it appears that the figure was calculated differently from past elections, as the figures were based on the number of voters who collected their vote, instead of all eligible voters. 

In 2019, the turnout at 2pm stood at 32.3%, which was closer to the turnout in the 2014 election.

Earlier in the day, President Myriam Spiteri Debono voted in Birkirkara, Prime Minister Robert Abela voted in Żejtun and Opposition leader Bernard Grech voted in Mosta. The president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola voted in Sliema, while ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci voted in St Paul's Bay. Independent candidate Arnold Cassola voted in Pembroke.

Polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm. Voters need to have their voting document with them to be able to vote.

There are 332,967 eligible voters after 37,000 voters or 10% of the electorate chose not to pick up their voting document by midnight on Thursday.

Although not small, the number of uncollected votes is similar to five years ago, which came as a surprise since it was expected to be much higher given the consistent polling data that indicated a higher abstention rate this year.

READ ALSO: All you need to know for voting day

Voting is taking place in government schools across Malta and Gozo. Voters are expected to cast their ballots in 1,600 ballot boxes.

This is the fifth European election to be held in Malta since the country joined the EU in 2004.

In the 2019 election, the Labour Party (S&D) elected four MEPs and the Nationalist Party (EPP) elected two MEPs.

The election comes after a gruelling five-week campaign dominated by criminal charges filed against former prime minister Joseph Muscat and other former senior government officials in relation to the Vitals hospitals scandal.

The results of the election will be known on Sunday. Vote scanning will start at 9am and the first indications of the outcome in terms of party strength will be known around 10am.

Electronic vote counting will take place once all votes are scanned and the full complement of six elected MEPs is expected to be known by Sunday evening.

MaltaToday will be offering live updates all through Sunday from the counting hall in Naxxar and other locations around Malta.