Government does not deny 80 have more than one ID card

The government did not deny that 80 people, from a total of 300, were in possession of more than one identity card.

In a statement issued yesterday, the government said that The Malta Independent on Sunday chose to keep publishing untrue stories on the ID card system, which factually is today in a much better state from a situation of expired ID cards during previous administrations.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement that people holding a residence document ending with ‘A’ (‘A’ is for alien, meaning persons who are not Maltese) are not entitled to vote in general elections in the first place. Therefore, any talk of people with a residence document ending with ‘A’ voting twice is pure invention, the ministry said.

The newspaper also mentions, the ministry said, a person who had an ID card number ending with a ‘P’.

This exceptional classification which was created by the previous administration - caters for a small list of Maltese citizens who are not able to produce a birth certificate. Usually, the reason for not being able to produce a birth certificate relates to the fact that these citizens were born in foreign jurisdictions with different systems.

Identity Malta has special internal checks with regards to this exceptional category. The case mentioned by the newspaper has in fact been duly flagged by the internal checking system of Identity Malta, and the Electoral Commission was informed immediately.

In the past days the government has invited The Malta Independent for an information session with Identity Malta in order to give all the necessary information on how the system works and on the internal controls being obtained within the agency. The session will take place this week.

The Malta Independent on Sunday is encouraged, and will have all opportunity, to provide in full confidence all details of the mentioned allegations for the relevant authorities to investigate and to determine their veracity, the ministry said.