The Electoral Commission has been given more time to distribute the voting documents which, by law, should be done within 19 days of the official announcement of the election date.

Through a notice in The Government Gazette, the President extended the deadline by a further 22 days so that the police can continue with the door-to-door distribution without breaching the provisions of the General Elections Act.

The Times reported on January 15 that the Electoral Commission had to scrap 500,000 documents and start the printing process afresh because they bore the signature of the previous Chief Electoral Commissioner.

The incumbent, Saviour Gauci, yesterday confirmed that the President had authorised an extension but denied that the delay was caused by the printing error.

“The extension has nothing to do with the printing mistake. It is just due to a longer electoral campaign, which gives us more time to deliver the documents at a less stressful pace,” he said.

The notice to extend the distribution period appeared in The Government Gazette on January 15.

According to the General Elections Act, “within 19 days of the publication of the writ (January 7), the (Electoral) Commission shall forward to each voter a voting document”.

Sources, however, said the printing error would have made it impossible for the commission to abide by the law had the President not agreed to an extension.

Asked how much the printing error had cost, Mr Gauci said he did not know but added that it “must be below €10,000”.

“The most important issue is that all is done according to law and the cost of this is almost immaterial,” he said.

After the door-to-door distribution is over, people who do not get their voting document would still be able to collect it from the police stations or from the commission’s office in Valletta.

Mr Gauci confirmed reports that some documents had to be replaced because they had indicated polling booths situated in localities that were different to where the voter resided.

He said this happened only in a particular street in Msida where voters were mistakenly told to vote in a polling station in the case of the local elections and in another for the general election.

“We are talking about 500,000 voting documents and some mistakes are bound to happen,” Mr Gauci said.

Electors can only vote if they are in possession of a valid document.

A total of 332,963 registered people are entitled to vote in the March 9 general election.