Small Nations Games contingent will not vote unless given special permission

The contingent to represent Malta at the Small Nations Games in San Marino will not be able to vote in the 3 June general election unless it is given special permission by the Electoral Commission, The Malta Independent has learnt.

The games will be held between 29 May and 3 June, the day of the election.

120 athletes and officials are set to leave for San Marino early on 27 May and will return on 4 June, meaning that none of them will be able to cast their vote unless they are allowed a special concession.

Voters who will not be in Malta on the day of the election, 3 June, can vote a week earlier, on 27 May. But the Air Malta flight taking the contingent to San Marino will be flying at 7.30am, and passengers have to be at the airport two hours earlier, before the Electoral Commission doors open for the so called “early-voters”.

David Azzopardi, the assistant chef-de-mission of the Malta contingent, told The Malta Independent that letters have been sent to both the Office of the Prime Minister and the Electoral Commission in a bid to find a solution to the impasse.

The request that has been made is for the contingent to be given the opportunity to vote on 26 May, a day earlier than the day allotted for other early voters. So far, no reply has been received.

An attempt has also been made for the contingent to be brought back to Malta as soon as the games end on Saturday 3 June – and this would mean that the athletes and officials would forego their participation in the closing ceremony – but no arrangement has been reach on this score either.