Top comment: the non-Maltese vote in the EP election
Sent in by Foreign Voter:
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.
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At the end, 1,025 of Joseph Cuschieri’s votes were non- transferable, so his change-of-mind to run probably cost the PL its fouth seat. A couple hundred more LGBTs would have done the trick too.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-05-30/news/fknk-says-collects-record-number-of-signatures-to-block-abrogative-referendum-5253398528/
‘….Giving a rundown of the percentage of signatures collected according to various age brackets, Mr Perici Calascione said that the majority of signatories were persons aged between 16 and 28 (20.89 per cent) and the least signatories being those aged between 14 and 18….’
How does that work?
‘…He said that the petition will be presented to parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon, a hunter himself, on Monday, who in turn will present the petition in parliament….’
I take it we won’t know the number of signatures then. How nice of Perici Calascione to define Falzon. Taghna Lkoll, or is that kollu taghna?
This one however takes the biscuit,
‘….When asked what he expected from legislators, Mr Perici Calascione said that the FKNK is in no way against a democratic referendum however pointed out that if parliament failed to take into consideration the number of signatures collected and did not discuss the issue, it would be conveying a message that it is not interested in what the thousands of people have to say…’
So,
it’s only democratic to listen to what people have to say when a petition to block a referendum, where these same people get to vote, blocks the same referendum.
Wow.
Your local council has two lists of electors – one for general elections and the other for European Parliament elections. These can be viewed by anyone upon request. I think you can buy them on CD as well.
Foreign Voter makes a number of good points but seems to have approached the issue from the exact same point of view as the typical Maltese idiot: “What’s in it for me?”
If you are really interested in participating in the democratic process, party propaganda is the last thing you need. It’s biased and unreliable anyway.
Follow the issues in the English-language media and make up your mind based on a mature evaluation that takes into account the greater good, including the good of foreigners like you who, unlike you, could not vote because they arrived from Africa in a rickety boat.
He doesn’t come across that way at all.
Well, by definition, foreigners who emigrate to Malta do so because they want something their home country hasn’t provided them with. For some it’s a nice job opportunity, marriage, or weather that’s not dreary, day in day out. For others it’s a chance at a ‘normal’ life free from all kinds of horror.
So it’s ironic to see a presumed member of the former group being swayed to vote for a political party on the basis of “non discriminatory bus fares and electricity tariffs” and a couple of falsely flattering English pamphlets, when the same political party is so quick to discriminate against other immigrants with far greater and more pressing needs.
I’m just pointing that out.
Who says he or she voted Labour? And what if they did?
You’re reading things that were not written.
I too am a foreigner – a Maltese in a central European country. It is only by finding out myself how and where to register as a voter that I did this.
None of the nationals here ever mentioned anything. Nor were there any notices in the media about entitlement to vote, let alone how to go about it.
None of the electoral propaganda in whatever medium was in anything but the local language and of course same goes for the ballots and instructions at the polling stations.
It is regrettable in this day and age that foreigners’ particular needs tend to be ignored but it is an inevitable part of life, I’m afraid.
It is natural that there is apathy both on the part of the voter, who tends to be as parochial as the parties that echo his thoughts.
Many just won’t vote in their adopted country. It is also natural that people do not know about their right to vote. This is due to the reluctance of the EU to spend on advertising.
The parties are equally reluctant because blowing the nationalist trumpet is much easier. Look at our tough guys Muscat and Sant for examples of nationalistic drivel. It works.
The Founding Fathers had thought they could first use economic interdependence as a platform for integration but in hindsight admitted that they should have started with highlighting to Europeans that they did indeed have a shared history.
Most comments ignore the point made by Foreign Voter that the PL became aware of him as such, and addressed themselves to him in terms that concerned him. Other parties, including the NP, seemed to ignore him altogether. What other political parties abroad did, or did not do, is completely irrelevant.
As for treating foreigners residing in Malta in a discriminatory way, when they are subject to the same taxes, this could almost qualify for the label “racist”.