The non-Maltese vote in this election
Lots of people don’t know that the citizens of other EU member states can vote in Malta’s EP elections (but not in general elections) if they are registered residents of Malta and have a Maltese identity card.
They don’t know, either, that Maltese citizens who live in other EU member states, even if only temporarily while they are at university on a programme of just few months, can vote in the EP elections there.
I have trawled through every newspaper article about the EP elections in Malta and through everything said and written by politicians and journalists.
But nowhere have I seen this factor mentioned.
How many non-Maltese EU citizens were on the electoral roll in this election? That information should be immediately available.
How many Maltese citizens who were on the Maltese electoral roll for these elections, but also on the electoral roll elsewhere, took up the option of voting in other EU member states instead? That information is probably impossible to obtain conclusively, but a rough estimate should be possible to work out.
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“How many Maltese citizens who were on the Maltese electoral roll for these elections, but also on the electoral roll elsewhere..?”
That information is immediately available. If you are on the electoral roll in one country, you are automatically removed from all the others. So it’s simply a question of tallying all those who are on the general election register who are not on the EP election register.
[Daphne – No, I’m afraid you’re wrong there. The system is not that efficient or definitive. I know through direct experience that being on the electoral roll in other EU member states does not prevent the delivery of voting documents to your ID card address in Malta. In the Netherlands, for instance, you need only have an address there for a couple of months before the election to get the EP vote – that’s not enough time to have you removed from the electoral roll in Malta, even if anybody bothered to check.]
And since you brought up this important (and vital to any party that counts victories in hundreds of votes), here’s another thing. None of the parties reached out to the non-Maltese EU voters. For a start, everything was in Maltese. Then the whole campaign was on domestic and local issues.
The only one who came close was Norman Lowell, because in his case you can at least find a few diatribes in English.
There’s a lesson there for the Nationalist Party.
They talk about knocking on every single door and going into every kitchen. How about they start by reaching out to the non-Maltese speakers? Or the non-Maltese thinkers for that matter. I’ve had it up to here with the village pump, unsophisticated, Xarabank politics.
I suppose it depends on the speed of the administrative system, which depends on national voting rules. In some EU countries, you need to register at least five months before the election, so that would give plenty of time for the information to reach Malta, where your name is struck off the voting register.
So yes, you’re right in that the numbers will not be precise.
I can confirm what Daphne is saying here – I was on the electoral roll for Malta and voted in the UK
I think Helga Ellul would be justifiably offended with you, Daphne. I also think that the local German/German-espoused/Germanophile community – which is not miniscule – voted for her.
“And since you brought up this important (and vital to any party that counts victories in hundreds of votes), here’s another thing. None of the parties reached out to the non-Maltese EU voters. For a start, everything was in Maltese. Then the whole campaign was on domestic and local issues.”
This is based on the assumption that foreigners living in Malta live in a vacuum with no ties and relationships whatsoever with the Maltese.
However, you will find that many vote in the manner that their Maltese contacts – particularly if the relationship is a personal one.
I know from personal experience that most foreigners, if somehow personally linked to a Maltese, would vote in the same manner as that Maltese would vote. And the ones I know voted Labour, not Lowell.
Helga Ellul is German, and spoke in English.
I was on the electoral register in the UK and in Malta five years ago. I was able to vote in both countries.
Biss biss fil-polling booth fejn kont jien kien hemm mal-20 non-Maltese EU citizens. Minnhom 2 biss ġew jivvutaw. U ċittadini Maltin li kellhom dritt jivvutaw naf diversi imma li ma ġewx jivvutaw minkejja r-roħs fil-prezz tat-titjira għal Malta u nagħmel imħatra li lanqas fejn jgħixu ma marru jivvutaw.
Taghmilx imhatri bhal dawn. Ghax l-assumptions tieghek zbaljati.
Fil-polling booth fejn kont jien l-ebda votant barrani ma gie jivvota. Persuni fil-familja tieghi xtaqu jigu bhal ma ghamlu sena ilu imma seats available ma kienx hemm. Tinsiex li min ikollu xoghol u familja mhux daqshekk facli li jitlaq kollox u jigi.
The archaic practice of subsidising voters’ repatriation, paired with the inherent tribalism of our way of doing politics leads me to a rough estimate of zero for the question raised in your last paragraph.
[Daphne – You are wrong. I know several Maltese people who didn’t bother to return to vote in Malta despite the cheap fares, and voted in London, for example.]
I would like to know how many non-Maltese voted in the election. I voted abroad. But yes, I know some hamalli who went back to Malta to vote.
I’m glad I am. The people you mention are those who have understood what the EP elections are all about. Pity their thinking is not mainstream.
My experience confirms this too – I don’t know many Maltese people studying in the UK who decided to interrupt their studies and return to Malta, but voted here in Britain instead.
What I know is that for the past month before the EU parliament elections two car-fulls of security police in civilian clothes have been continuously parked in relays, on both sides of the road leading to the Xemxija Fire Station, twiddling their thumbs and drinking coffee, night and day, on double yellow lines and obstructing traffic while burglars were leisurely ransacking the home of elderly people hearing mass.
I too had tried to publicise the fact starting from March. Obviously my pleas fell on deaf ears.
I now have the pleasure of saying I have voted in two countries other than Malta at two separate EP elections and am very proud of the fact, not least for the often joyous and somewhat surprised reception you get at the polling booth. The scrutineers seem genuinely impressed and proud that you would contribute as a European voter.
The EU’s biggest issue is that its total budget amounts to just 1% of the entire GDP of the EU. Its weakness is that it does not have the power to promote the good it does and to stave off the doubters who use it as the scapegoat for all of the shortcomings of the national government.
I had no idea. I kicked myself for not arranging to vote back in Sweden, but had no idea I could (presumably) vote here.
Daphne, the Electoral Commission should have a precise number of the figures that you are asking for. This is because each polling room had a separate list of non-Maltese EU citizens who were entitled to vote, and the Assistant Commissioners were asked to tick each of these persons who turned up to vote. These lists were handed back to the Electoral Commission at the end of the day.
I am by no means an expert on the subject, but it seems logical to me that voting across borders fits in with the whole freedom of movement/work for all EU nationals philosophy that is at the heart of the Union.
And likewise the obligation to vote in other EU states holds true as well. Once you have certain rights or freedoms you have duties and obligations too. They work in tandem.
While I was voting on Saturday I overheard the officials present discussing the foreign eligible voters and pointing out that they were all listed at the back of the ‘booklet’, in a section dedicated to them. This came as a surprise to many of them. In fairness, it sounded like they were surprised as I was, at the time, behind the curtain.
There were 7880 non-Maltese eligible to vote: Times of Malta of last Saturday.
The April 2014 European Union electoral register (European Parliament electoral register) – which purports to list only those (‘A’) non-Maltese EU citizens enrolled up until Saturday, 29th March, 2014 inclusive – discloses that a total 8,288 persons were registered to vote in the European Parliament elections in Malta on 24th May.
The lower total number of registered non-Maltese EU electors that you and the media have quoted, that is, 7,880, may be accounted for because scores of (‘M’) electors appear in the same April 2014 European Union electoral register.
Of note is that these same (‘M’) electors appear in the Maltese Nationals section of the April 2014 Local Council electoral registers.
Don’t they have to specifically register to vote (as opposed to being placed on the electoral register automatically when they get their ID card)?
I believe the European Parliament office ran an information campaign about this.
I served in a polling booth where we had 21 foreign residents registered to vote, but only three of them turned up. PLUS they were also listed on a separate paper.
It seems the commission wants to know the exact number of foreign voted casted their vote last Saturday.
I am one of those citizens of other EU member states that can vote in Malta’s EP elections. Indeed I did vote here last Saturday, much to the surprise of some people I know who were working in the polling station on the day.
You’re right in saying that votes such as mine were not appropriately considered on many levels.
My voting document and my ballot paper were only available in Maltese. The majority of the propaganda that arrived in my postbox was purely in Maltese.
The only exceptions happened a week before the election. Two letters arrived in quick succession, one from Dr Sant, and another the next day from Prime Minister Muscat.
The letters reminded me of the positive changes implemented since March 2013, especially relating to foreigners living in Malta such as myself.
The list of positive changes seemed to consist completely of actions mandated as a result of anti-discrimination legislation against the government (removal of discriminatory bus fares for foreigners, different rates for electricity, etc).
The examples given were quite tenuous, but at least they made an effort to ask me for my vote. They were at least aware that there were non-Maltese with voting rights on this occasion (who didn’t even have to purchase a passport) and if I was not so conscious of the local political machinations it may actually have had an impact on my vote.
I can only assume that the list of ID card numbers relating to those on the electoral register was available to all parties, so it wouldn’t have been too difficult to spot those ID cards ending in ‘A’? I did wonder for a while whether such information was indeed available to all parties though.
I exercised my right to vote as an EU citizen here in Malta. I voted for the individuals that I felt would best represent my wishes at a European level.
Perhaps when Malta has been in the EU for longer the Maltese will understand that there is more at stake than the political parties getting one over on each other at home.
Immature parochial politics just weaken Malta’s stance and reputation within the wider EU. Thankfully in the end we elected at least some decent representatives.
What I know for sure is that in the first and second EP elections, the PN had tried particularly hard to target these non-Maltese voters, failing miserably due to the fact that these simply do not bother to turn up. I would be very surprised if the party wasted any time with them this time round.
Alfred Sant did send a letter to my wife, who is German. If I remember properly, it was about how he will protect her rights.
Being one of the new PN activist,s I met Beppe Fenech Adami while visiting the polling stations. He mentioned that in St Paul’s Bay there are around 6000 foreigners. Also in this EP election there were 8000 foreigners holding a vote.
I believe that after a certain number of years living in another EU member state you actually lose the right to vote in the other.
I live in Italy and am still on the Maltese electoral register.
In the last two EU elections I received a letter from the local municipal authorities requesting me to state whether I opt to vote in Malta or in Italy.
This time round the letter said that I “no longer had the right to vote in Malta and that I could only vote in Italy”.
No reason was given but nothing has changed in my status. I have always held two passports and am still on the Maltese electoral register.
I know an elderly couple from Scotland who moved to Malta a couple of years ago. They are as anti-EU as they come and can’t wait for the opportunity to vote in a referendum for the UK to exit the EU.
However they believe that EU membership is right for Malta. They chose to vote PN giving their number 1 vote to Kevin Cutajar as they said he was the only candidate to bother to make house calls.
Although I find the concept of politicians making house visits archaic, it may be something to look into when considering ex-pats voting in MEP elections.
This thing about house calls is total bollocks!
How many households can a candidate visit per day in a week?
Say they visit every other day and spend three or four hours per day. Spending an average 10 minutes per visit only about 80 households per week can be managed.
I’d say 50 realistically.
Candidates organize various activities peaking during campaigns and most of them give several addresses where the can be contacted. So, do we really need to wait for the candidate to come to us?
Obviously the sick and elderly are exceptions. Anyone else who needs to air views or ask a political party to tackle an issue should approach the latter themselves and not vice versa.
One could approach any party for the matter. Then one can make proper assessment at a later stage according to the steps taken by each party towards the issues concerned.
Some do consider house visits as intrusive especially if the candidate does not represent the preferred party.
Are we not the same population who used to smirk at candidates who came knocking at the door at election time and then disappear for the next four years after an election?
Though it is true that election literature was not aimed at non-Maltese EU citizens, the PN did reach out to them.
In Gozo they held a meeting specifically for non-Maltese electors and, I presume, the party would have organised a similar event on the mainland. The PL, on the other hand, just ignored this group.
http://www.europarlmt.eu/en/news_events/news/news_2014/news_feb/expats.html;jsessionid=84734E15D79FE9E363A181D2DA63FD2D
‘………Figures from the Electoral Commission indicate that there are currently 44,729 non-Maltese EU nationals whose name appears in the Maltese electoral register………’
I have heard that the figure of non-Maltese eligible to vote was 7,000. How many of them actually voted, or even collected their voting document remains to be seen.
The Electoral Commission has the information about the numbers of non-Maltese EU citizens who were entitled to vote, and it is readily available.
I served as an assistant electoral commissioner in last Saturday’s election and apart from the list of persons entitled to vote (known as the LOPEV) we were also presented with a separate list of non-Maltese EU citizens who were entitled to vote.
In my case there were 16, out of whom only 3 turned up to vote.
Mr Francis Saliba MD, I suggest that since you are a professional go and the you job and let others do their job! Don’t try to dictate to others what they shall do as its none of your buisness! Secondly since they wearing civilian clothes how did you conclude that they are police officers? And finally what is wrong with drinking coffee?? :-)
[Daphne – Francis Saliba was the Police Corps medical officer for many, many years. Rest assured that he can recognize a policeman when he sees one.]
My colleague received an sms too.
The notion that non-Maltese EU electors ‘simply do not BOTHER to turn up’ on polling day is fanciful given how so few of them receive DELIVERY of their voting documents in the first instance.
2012:
During the door-to-door voting document delivery process in the March 2012 round of local council elections in Malta and Gozo, the Maltese authorities managed to hand over voting documents to 80% of Maltese electors, but delivered voting documents to only 20% of registered non-Maltese EU electors:
A) ‘A quarter of the voting documents for the (2012) March local elections were undelivered after the door-to-door delivery campaign ended last week, with the major parties admitting this was higher than in previous years.
With 51,453 undelivered voting documents, amounting to 27 per cent of eligible voters, officials from both parties told The Times yesterday that when compared to previous local elections, the number was “substantially higher”.
According to the October electoral register, on which the March elections will be based, there are 192,257 eligible voters in the 35 localities, including foreigners who are entitled to vote. ………’
Source: The Times of Malta, Tuesday, 21st February, 2012: 51,000 voting documents for council elections undelivered
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120221/local/1-000-voting-documents-for-council-elections-undelivered.407780
B) ‘More than 33,000 votes out of 192,000 issued for tomorrow’s local elections in 35 localities have not been collected.
Half of the uncollected votes belong to EU citizens resident in Malta.
The EU citizens resident here numbered 21,400. A total 17,000 of them did not collect their vote……. ‘
Source: The Times of Malta, Friday, 9th March, 2012: More than 33,000 votes uncollected
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120309/local/more-than-33-000-votes-uncollected.410377
2013:
With a total of 189,188 registered electors, the door-to-door delivery of voting documents during the 9th March, 2013 round of local council elections in Malta and Gozo disclosed yet another huge disparity in the same regard.
‘…………Saturday will also see local council elections taking place in half of Malta’s localities. Here, some 18,300 voting documents remained undelivered yesterday.
However, one has to consider that around 14,000 of these voters are estimated to be non-Maltese residents……’
Source: The Times of Malta: Thursday, 7th March, 2013: Uncollected votes at the same level as 2008
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130307/local/Uncollected-votes-at-the-same-level-as-2008.460576
2014:
No such break down of voting document DELIVERY rates between Maltese National electors / Non-Maltese EU electors appeared in the media prior to the 2014 European Parliament election.
In conclusion, please see:
Letter published in the Times of Malta, Friday, March 16th, 2012:
Anne Jagla, Qawra
Local councils in the spotlight (5)
I was interested to read the comment (March 12) that “the political parties were yesterday left trying to understand what kept voters away from the polling booths”.
I can tell them! It was quite simple. We couldn’t get any voting papers.
For the past few weeks we have been inundated with information about the various candidates running in the election.
Having made our choice we then set about trying to find voting papers.
We enquired at the local police station in Qawra but two officers there told us they had no idea where we could collect them from but that there would be an announcement in the press.
We waited – and waited – and then finally saw a notice last week telling us that the very next day was the final day for collecting voting papers from Valletta, which was far too late and too far away and so we were unable to vote.
Talking to other people in the area, we are by no means the only ones to have had the same problem.
Instead of writing long letters outlining their policies, the candidates would do better to ensure that the people in their locality can obtain voting papers.
In England and Germany and probably other European countries it is unheard of for people to have to go and collect their voting papers.
These papers or cards are always delivered to the door by post and are then taken to the polling booths by the voters, where their details are matched to the list of people in that area eligible to vote.
I am not in the least bit surprised that so many people quite frankly could not be bothered to trail across the island to collect their voting papers.
Dear political parties, once you start delivering voting papers to the door, I am sure you will find an immediate increase in the voter turnout.
Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120316/letters/Local-councils-in-the-spotlight-5-.411339