The well-oiled machine of the Electoral Commission is working smoothly on the organisation of next Saturday's local elections, with preparations at the Naxxar counting hall now complete and  the remaining voting documents being handed out from its offices in Valletta and Victoria.

This is the first time that local council elections are being held in half of Malta's towns and villages, but since the 2008 general elections, the Electoral Commission has been kept busy with local elections and the MEP elections in 2009 and the nation-wide divorce referendum last year.

According to the October 2011 electoral register, there are 192,200 registered voters for Saturday's elections - including 21,400 foreign EU citizens resident in Malta. However, since a number have since died, the actual number is 191,700. Policemen distributed 142,600 voting documents and a further 12,500 were picked up from police stations.

Up to two days ago, 36,500 documents had sill not been collected - a very high number by Malta's standards - but the pick-up rate averages 600 daily, Chief Electoral Commissioner Salvu Gauci said. Documents will continue to be handed out until midnight tomorrow. 

There are 419 candidates for the 239 council seats that are up for grabs. 10 candidates are on the AD list, 200 on labour's and 198 on the PN's. Small parties and independents number just 11.

Polling stations have been set up mostly in schools. There are 308 ballot boxes in 54 polling stations. 35 ballot votes were used for early voting last Saturday by those who will be away this Saturday. Assistant Electoral Commissioners vote on Friday in another 35 boxes.

Once voting closes on Saturday at 7 p.m., the ballot boxes in Malta will be taken to the counting hall at Naxxar where sorting and counting will start immediately. In Gozo, the process will take place at the sports hall. First results are due on Saturday night and all counting is expected to be over late on Sunday.

The counting will be conducted by 1,111 counting staff. This will be a new experience for just under half of them. There will also be 1,900 assistant commissioners in the polling stations. 

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