Over 13,200 voting documents uncollected

With four days to go to Malta's first-ever European elections, over 13,200 voting documents - some 4.3 per cent - remain uncollected, substantially higher than the number of unclaimed documents for a general election.

The Ta' Qali counting hall is expected to work overtime next week with the results of the local elections not likely to be officially known before June 19.

Early indications show that turnout for the European elections on Saturday will be lower than for the general elections, a spokesman for the Electoral Commission told The Times.

Still, the spokesman envisaged that turnout figures in Malta could well top the European average.

For Saturday's elections, a total 304,000 individuals are eligible to vote, 1,036 of whom are foreigners.

Last year, just 2,261 voting documents remained uncollected for the general election and 4,235 for the EU referendum. In the 1998 election, a total of 1,849 documents were unclaimed and in 1996, it was 1,455 documents.

The result of the first count votes of the EP elections will be officially known some time on Sunday night. According to European elections regulations, no country can announce any results before the termination of all voting in all member states.

However, thanks to the sampling system, the political parties are expected to have a good indication of the first count votes by about 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The five elected candidates will not however be known until Wednesday at least, according to the Electoral Commission.

The commission spokesman explained that the system was far more complex this year because the election was not split into districts. This meant that the transferable vote system would necessitate the recounts of several more votes.

Candidates would need a quota of about 38,000 votes to be elected.

Local council candidates will have to hold their breath for longer. Counting for the local council elections is not expected to start before June 19. For the local council elections, a total of 4,800 voting documents remain uncollected.

Voting documents can be collected until tomorrow.

The Department of Information will be publishing the official results of both elections on its website www.doi.gov.mt