There were almost 12,000 unclaimed voting documents by Friday night, down by more than 2,000 when compared with the same period five years ago.
In percentage terms the number is significantly lower than the 2008 election considering the natural increase in eligible voters.
According to Louis Gatt, head of the Labour Party’s electoral office, the two most problematic localities are St Paul’s Bay in the 12th district and Marsascala in the third district.
He pinned the problem to the high number of summer residences and rented apartments in the areas.
“People may have their ID card registered on their summer home and so the police would have found no one at home. Similarly, people who live in rented accommodation are more prone to move residence without changing their ID card,” Mr Gatt said.
Similar to what happened five years ago the districts with the highest number of unclaimed votes are traditionally PN-leaning.
Jean Pierre Debono, PN assistant general secretary and electoral office coordinator, said until Thursday night the ninth, 10th, 12th and 13th districts had the highest percentage of unclaimed votes.
With eight per cent of votes unclaimed, the 12th district, which includes St Paul’s Bay, had the highest rate followed by Gozo and the Sliema district (10th) at seven per cent each. The ninth district that includes Msida and Swieqi had the fourth highest percentage of unclaimed votes at five per cent.
Mr Debono said that Labour-leaning districts had a higher voting document distribution rate with the Paola district (4th) topping the list.
The Electoral Commission will today collect voting documents from police stations, an exercise that will provide a clearer picture of how the unclaimed documents are apportioned between the districts.
Voting documents
The collection of voting documents from police stations ended yesterday at 10pm. From tomorrow voters can only collect their voting document from the Electoral Commission’s office in Valletta and the ID cards office in Victoria.
Although the situation is better than five years ago when there was a record of unclaimed votes, Mr Gatt said he was not happy.
“Considering it was a long campaign and the door-to-door delivery of voting documents was extended, there was a greater chance of documents being delivered at home,” he said, noting people found it more difficult to get their voting document from the Electoral Commission.
The document is required for eligibility and political parties intensify their campaigns over the next four days to encourage voters to collect their election passport. Meanwhile, voting began yesterday as those abroad on voting day were given special permission by the Electoral Commission to cast their ballot. There were 2,269 eligible voters.
Collecting voting documents
You can collect the voting document from the Electoral Office at Evans Building in Valletta or the ID card office in Victoria between tomorrow and Thursday.
The opening times are: Monday to Wednesday from 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 9pm; Thursday 9am to 1pm and 2pm to midnight.
Voting documents have to be collected personally on presentation of an ID card.
People who do not have a voting document cannot vote.