Bill for European Parliament elections published

Members of Parliament or local councils who get elected to the European Parliament will have to decide which office to retain within five working days of the results being announced, according to a proposed law to regulate the holding of European Parliament elections in Malta.

When a person fails to renounce one of his offices within that time span, he would be deemed to have renounced the office of member of the European Parliament, according to the bill.

The process for the holding of the European Parliament elections will be very similar to that followed for general and local elections, but Malta and Gozo will be considered as one district.

The elections will be held every five years from next year, on the second Saturday in June or any other date established by the prime minister. Voting will be between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. The process will be conducted by the Electoral Commission.

The election will be according to the principle of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, each voter having one vote.

Every person whose name appears in the electoral register last published before the date set for the election, and every person whose name appears in the European Union Electoral Register and who opts to vote in Malta, shall be entitled to vote.

No one may cast his vote in Malta and in another member state. When a non-Maltese opts to vote in Malta, the Electoral Commission will inform the competent authority in that person's home member state that that person has opted to vote in Malta, and vice-versa.

A person shall be qualified to stand for the election of the European Parliament if he is registered as a voter in the Electoral Register or the European Union Electoral Register but public officers may be restricted from standing by the Public Service Management Code (the Estacode).

Members of the judiciary, disciplined forces, those involved in the conduct of the elections, people who have been declared bankrupt or interdicted and those serving a prison term longer than one year may not stand. Candidates may only stand for European Parliament elections in one country.

Whenever the seat of a member of the European Parliament becomes vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by casual election. When a vacancy is to be filled by co-option, that co-option will be made by the House of Representatives.

The bill also amends the Local Councils Act so that any EU national resident in Malta may vote in local elections.

As in the case of the general elections, if local elections are due within four months of the European Parliament elections, they may be postponed or brought forward.