European Commission investigating exclusion of non-Maltese from electoral register - AD
The European Commission is investigating Malta’s deletion of non-Maltese EU citizens from the electoral register following last year’s European Parliament elections.
Alternattiva Demokratika said in a statement that after it had exposed the matter,Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was advised by the Attorney-General to instruct the Electoral Commission to reinstate those voters on the electoral register.
AD spokesman for EU and international affairs Arnold Cassola said:
“The European Commission is now investigating this irregular behaviour by the Maltese Electoral Commission and is also making enquiries to ascertain if there are other instances of discrimination vis a vis EU citizens residents in Malta with regards to their voting rights in European Parliament elections.”
AD chairman Michael Briguglio said AD would remain active to ensure that all those entitled to vote in elections, whether general, local or European, would be entitled to exercise this fundamental right.
“Unfortunately, both the Nationalist and Labour Parties do not seem to consider all voters as being equal in their rights,” he said.
AD said it was, in the meantime in possession of the most recent submission to the European Commission, by resident Oison Jones-Dillon in this regard.
This correspondence points that the Maltese Electoral Commission composed of representatives from the opposition Labour Party and the governing Nationalist Party, denied non-Maltese EU citizens the right to even enrol on the (Maltese) European Parliament electoral register until October 1, 2008.
As a consequence, of the 21,124 non Maltese EU citizens presently enrolled on the local council electoral registers, only 2,604 were likewise enrolled on the European Parliament one.
he disenfranchised 18,520 constitute over five per cent of the entire European Parliament electorate in Malta.
ALDE MEP Robert Rochefort Deeply has tabled a written question to the European Commission.
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J. Borg
May 21st 2010, 11:18
Typical sham democracy a la PNPL !
And they pay themselves good money and pensions and expect everyone to thank them for it!
Where are we with the electoral reform honourable gentlemen and ladies?
or we going to be taken for the umpteenth ride again?
Adrian Attard Trevisan
May 21st 2010, 13:34
I used to think that if a person ( of whatever nationality he or she is) has been living in a country for a few years and is registered as that country's citizen (especially if they pay tax) , they could vote .
During the last European Parliament elections I was studying in London and since I spent quite a few years there I was automatically sent the voting document at my residence .
These kind of rules should be equal in every european country (or else its like we didn't join the European Union at all) .
Peter Korsten
May 21st 2010, 10:53
Yes, this was strange. In 2004, I received a letter from both the Dutch and the Maltese authorities, and I could vote for either country. That year, I decided to cast my vote in the Netherlands (via the internet, no less).
Last year, I again received a letter from the Dutch authorities, but not from the Maltese. I actually had to download a form and fill it in. It seemed as if the Maltese authorities were not too keen to let me vote for Malta, which was in fact what I wanted to do.
Between these two, there have been local council elections and I got the voting card for that, so it's not like they don't know about me.
Albert Farrugia
May 21st 2010, 11:05
That, Mr Korsten, is because what passes for an independent "electoral commission" is in reality firmly in the grip of the two main political parties. What they decide, goes. Clearly, during the EU election last year, they were not too keen on such an unpredictable electoral group as "foreigners". Therefore they created many loopholes (probably even legal) to at least discourage the maximum numbers of these from voting.
T Camilleri
May 21st 2010, 10:27
This only shows that where the balance tips in MEP elections in Malta will now be decided by foreigners and not Maltese citizens. No wonder some people say that we have become a foreigners colony.
Albert Farrugia
May 21st 2010, 10:52
No, Mr Camilleri, because as a consequence, Maltese citizens also vote when they are resident in other EU countries. In any case, these foreigners are resident here. I think they should have a little right to at least have their say in such matters. Much, much worse is the case of Maltese who live permanently abroad, for whom Malta is just a romantic, nostaligic, holidayland, yet who come here on cheap tickets so as to decide GENERAL ELECTION results. This goverment was elected by some 800 such persons in 2008. THIS is the real problem in Maltese elections.
Kevin Zammit
May 21st 2010, 10:56
The reason both parties want to reduce the number of EU non Maltese voters is because they fear they are not as biased, myopic and single minded as the majority of local voters ... and this holds as well to any other EU country that holds pseudo bi-partisan elections e.g. Greece. Get the hint?
Actually I think we need another 50,000 to really start getting a decent balance.
Simon Robinson
May 21st 2010, 11:23
Mr Camilleri, this not a national election, but a european election. Every EU citizen is entitled to vote! In every EU member country. I'm sure the Maltesse living abroad were not stopped from casting there vote.
Christian Sciberras
May 21st 2010, 11:37
Mr Camileri, some other people also state that Ggantija is still inhabited.
T Camilleri
May 21st 2010, 14:24
Simon Robinson Maybe, but the number of Maltese citizens in other countries is totally insignificant when compared with the citizens of those countries but they are a sizable number when compared with the Maltese population. So why should foreigners decide the balance in our MEP's elections?
How about what William P Flynn said? If foreigners are given the right to vote then Maltese citizens living in other non-eu countries should be more entitled than foreigners to vote in these elections.
Kevin Zammit if you are biased, myopic and single minded do not count the others who are patriotic and don't want foreigners to interfere in their internal affairs and decide the balance between the political parties.
M. Degiorgio
May 21st 2010, 21:05
T. Camilleri that's the whole point, It isn't an internal affair but a European affair. In bigger countries all foreign European citizens have a right to vote in the resident European country and not just the Maltese, meaning it's exactly the same thing there...get it?
William P Flynn
May 21st 2010, 10:18
If EU citizens who are foreign residents of Malta have a right to vote, this begs the question what about Maltese EU citizens resident in non EU countries like Australia, Canada, USA?
What is the position with Maltese citizens who live overseas or have dual citizenship? What are their voting rights?
Ramon Casha
May 22nd 2010, 06:42
Strange question. A Maltese citizen can vote in Maltese elections. An EU citizen can vote in EU elections. What do non-EU countries have to do with it?