There was a high turnout of voters in yesterday's referendum to determine whether Malta should join the European Union at its next enlargement on May 1, 2004.

According to an unofficial report, the turnout was around 93 per cent.

Overall, polling was calm throughout the day, with a constant flow of people voting both in the referendum and local council elections. The police said they had no reports of incidents.

The fine weather undoubtedly contributed to the high turnout, which was evident from the early hours of the day.

By 2 p.m., 47 per cent of the 292,559 eligible voters had already cast their vote. By the same time, 44 per cent of the 114,752 eligible voters had voted in the local council elections in 23 localities, three of them in Gozo.

The highest turnout for the local council elections up to 2 p.m. was at Mdina where 65 per cent of the electorate (which at 243 is the lowest of any locality) had already voted. The poorest turnout was in Xghajra where only 25 per cent had voted by 2 p.m.

The official turnout figure for the referendum or for the local elections by the time polling booths closed at 10 p.m. was not yet available when we went to press.

The Prime Minister described the turnout of 47 per cent by 2 p.m. as "good".

Sources said that in case of a yes vote the Prime Minister was likely to call a general election for April 12, although he has up to January 24 to do so.

Yesterday's referendum attracted many journalists from major European television stations and newspapers as well as from the media and news agencies of the other nine EU acceding countries.

Malta is the first of the ten countries invited to join the European Union in 2004 to hold a referendum on membership. It will be followed by Slovenia in two weeks' time and Hungary on April 12.

There is high expectation in Malta - and in Europe - for the referendum result.

Officially, the result will only be out late in the afternoon or maybe in the evening but already by late morning the result is expected to be out unofficially.

Sources said that latest opinion polls on Friday were still showing a majority in favour of EU membership with a substantial number of voters still undecided. Obviously, the result will be calculated on the number of valid votes cast.

The sources also said that clandestine bookmakers were taking bets up to four to one odds on for a Yes vote.

However, a professional bookmaker said that a Yes vote would have been favourite with odds on bets of five to four. Bets on a No vote would have been two to one odds on.

The European Commission in Brussels, and EU member states and acceding countries, are also closely following developments in Malta. The Commission is expected to issue a statement on the result by this evening.

Some queues were reported in certain localities such as Sliema and Fgura (where local elections were also taking place) but in general the voting process was smooth and calm.

Dr Fenech Adami and the chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika, Dr Harry Vassallo, cast their vote but Labour Party leader Alfred Sant decided to abstain in the EU referendum, although he voted in the local election for the Birkirkara council.

The President, Professor Guido de Marco, together with Mrs de Marco, voted at Dun Frans Camilleri Primary School in Hamrun.

Archbishop Mercieca voted at the Mdina police station at 7.15 a.m.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 10 p.m. Ballot boxes started arriving at the Ta' Qali counting hall at around 11 p.m. with the last expected at about 4 a.m.

About 3,200 individuals, who will be involved in the electoral process, voted at Ta' Qali yesterday.

A total of 4,200 voting documents - or 1.41 per cent of the 297,881 whose names appeared in the last electoral register, published in October - remained uncollected. Over 900 voting documents were not distributed since the people concerned had died since the electoral register was issued.

Some 3,600 - or three per cent - of the voting documents of those entitled to vote in the local elections remained uncollected.

Hundreds of staff from the two main parties have been mobilised as the party machines turn their attention from campaigning to the counting process at Ta' Qali.

Counting of votes cast in the local council elections will not be begin until tomorrow at 8 a.m.