Wealthy individuals buying a Maltese passport have the option of not having their name published in the electoral register – a ‘right’ denied to the rest of the Maltese, it has emerged in court.

Electoral Commission representative Savio Borg confirmed that he was aware of an Identity Malta form giving applicants the option of not having their name listed in the electoral register.

Mr Borg was testifying in a court case involving three of the 91 people whom the Nationalist Party wants to be struck off the electoral register because they do not satisfy requirements.

The three are Lilliana Edvardovna Demirchyan, from Armenia, Masoud Manla from Syria and Irina Petrovna Drobot from Russia.

Lawyer Paul Borg Olivier argued that the right to vote was enshrined in the Constitution, but people had to satisfy the requirements of residency and the other requirements listed in Article 57 of Malta’s Constitution.

The option of allowing one’s name not to be listed in the electoral register could give rise to an “ugly precedent”, possibly opening the door for abuse by those granted power of attorney on behalf of elderly and vulnerable people, Dr Borg Olivier argued.

In order for a person to acquire the right to vote, he or she must be a Maltese citizen who has lived in Malta for at least six months in the last 18 months prior to the publication of the electoral register. The last electoral register was published in April.

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