6,300 voting documents still uncollected

Just under 6,300 voting documents remained uncollected yesterday, though more will be shifted today when the bulk of Maltese living abroad are expected to fly in.

Chief Electoral Commissioner Edward Gatt stressed that the law stipulates that no voting documents can be collected after midnight tonight and no family member can collect the document on the individual's behalf.

Anybody who flies in tomorrow will have missed the opportunity to cast their vote because the Electoral Commission will not be making any exceptions, Mr Gatt said at a press conference yesterday.

An Air Malta spokesman said 3,200 people had applied for cheap fares under the special scheme for voters abroad and about 700 of them are expected to arrive tomorrow. However, some of these would have had their documents dropped off at home.

This year there are 314,364 voters eligible to cast their ballot on Saturday, compared to 294,106 in the 2003 general election.

By Sunday at noon, 9,015 documents had not yet been picked up. However, by Monday about 700 of them had been collected and another 800 on Tuesday. As the country enters a period of reflection tomorrow, the flurry of activity shifts to the counting hall in Naxxar, where all eyes will be focused once voting ends on Saturday at 10 p.m. and the ballot boxes begin to arrive.

The media was yesterday given a tour of the former Trade Fair complex, which is being used as a counting hall for the first time after the property in Ta' Qali was sold to make way for the American Embassy.

Counting hall manager Louis Fsadni explained that the ballot boxes - a total of 591 from the 13 districts - will start being opened the moment they arrive at Naxxar.

The distribution of first preference votes will not start being placed in the appropriate pigeonholes before 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, half an hour later than the 2003 general election.

He urged voters also casting their ballot in the local council elections to be extra careful to put the vote in the corresponding box in order to avoid any unnecessary delays. The counting of the local council election votes will begin on March 15 at 8 a.m. There are 97,081 eligible voters.

Mr Fsadni explained that once the first preference votes start being distributed, each party takes a sample of 50 votes from each box to get an idea of who is in the lead.

"The political parties will know much earlier who will win the election. Last year, the preliminary result was known just after 11 a.m. on Sunday. The commission will never be able to give an indication until it's official," he specified.

The biggest headache for the commission is coordinating the logistics, such as where the police and army will be sleeping, where the horses and dogs will be housed and how everybody will be fed.

"The counting hall has been ready since October; it's these extra details that take up your time," he said.

The Department of Information will be displaying the results of each count of every electoral district on its website www.doi.gov.mt. It will also publish the percentage turnouts starting from Saturday evening.

Those who have not yet collected their voting documents have until midnight tonight to claim them from Evans Building, St Elmo Square, Valletta, or, in the case of voters registered in Gozo, from the Identity Card Office, 28A, St Francis Square, Victoria.