8,372 voting documents remain uncollected, up 0.4% from 2013

The number of uncollected voting documents for the 2017 snap general election totals 8,372.

The deadline for the voting documents to be picked up expired on Thursday.

The amount of uncollected documents works out to 2.4% of the total number of registered voters. Compared with 2013, this percentage has risen by 0.4 points, from 6,523 documents to 8,372.

Uncollected documents increased by 1,849, however since the number of registered voters also increased, the percentage only rose by a little.

One of the reasons attributed to the increase is that in 2013, police had 25 days to deliver documents to voters’ doors. This time around, because the snap election was called just four weeks before, police only had 13 days to deliver the documents.

Originally, the number of registered voters for the 2017 election stood at 341,752. A period of court appeals however where any disputes about whether a person should be placed on the voting registry or not took place, 25 people were deleted off the registry and 129 where added.

The final number of registered voters therefore amounts to 341,856.

Voters are today expected to turn up at their local polling booth and choice their preferred candidates. On the ballot paper, candidates are grouped together based on their political party, in alphabetical order. Citizens cast their vote by placing a number in the corresponding box next to a candidate’s name, starting from one and can keep going until all candidates on the ticket have a number next to their names.

Despite what parties may encourage, voters are allowed to ‘cross vote’, referring to the process of giving candidates from various political parties a number. So much focus is given on the ‘one’ vote because this indicates a voter’s party of choice. When the results come out, it is the political party with the most number one votes that is the governing party, and its strength is measured through this.

Last weekend, 4,173 out of the total number of those eligible for early voting, at 4,250, turned up to vote. This amounted to a 91.7% turnout among early voters. On Thursday, all patients in Malta’s five main public hospitals cast their vote. Patients came from Mater Dei Hospital, Gozo General Hospital, Mount Carmel Hospital, Sir Paul Boffa Hospital and Karen Grech Hospital.

Malta’s assistant electoral commissioners, those who assist in the procedure, cast their vote yesterday.

The rest, and majority of the general public will be casting their vote today. Votes are then counted at the Naxxar counting hall from tomorrow morning.

The sorting of the boxes takes place tonight. During this process the ballot boxes will be opened and ballot papers will then be grouped into packets of 50 and turned face down, ready to be counted in the morning.

Volunteers will begin counting the ballot papers tomorrow at 10am. If the election turns out to be a landslide victory for a particular party, the result usually come out within the first couple of hours. In order to ascertain who the winning party is it is crucial to complete the first count run, that is when all ‘one’ votes are counted.

While it could be the case that Malta finds out who the winning party is early on in the day, volunteers continue to count the votes well throughout the day and also night, in order to ascertain which candidates have been elected as Parliamentary MPs.