Euro Parliament Malta head welcomes turnout
Sorting of votes set to start
Updated:
The head of the European Parliament office in Malta, has welcomed yesterday's turnout for the EP elections.
Meanwhile, the sorting of the votes cast yesterday is set to start at Naxxar counting hall after a delay.
The reconciliation of ballot papers continued unabated overnight but took slightly longer than expected.
All the ballot boxes had arrived at the counting hall by 2 am. - two hours earlier than expected - but the reconciliation process continued beyond the expected Noon deadline.
The reconciliation process involved the checking of ballot paper accounts and the counting of the ballot papers face down to ensure there were no discrepancies with the turnout. The ballot papers were then placed in packets of 50 to await sorting.
The sorting process will involve the allocation of the ballot papers according to the first preference given to each candidate. That is the most important part of the vote counting process, since it shows the political parties which way the electoral pendulum has swung.
Once sorted, the ballot papers will be placed in the pigeon holes of the respective candidates, giving the counting agents an indication of who is most likely to be elected.
MALTA - 'EUROPEAN CHAMPION OF DEMOCRACY'
The head of the European Parliament office in Malta, Julian Vassallo, this morning expressed his satisfaction at the turnout - which reached almost 79%.
"I am very satisfied with the turnout, we were expecting a slightly lower turnout in view of the trend across Europe, but the work of the last three weeks from many quarters to bring out the vote has made the difference."
Dr Vassallo said he wished to thank the media - not least timesofmalta.com through its EP section - for giving space to the candidates and to the election in general, which had helped the people to realise the importance of the election.
"We look forward to hearing the turnout figures of the other EU countries, but we expect Malta to remain the champion of European democracy with the highest turnout," Dr Vassallo said.