Just over 36,000 voting documents for the spring hunting referendum have not yet been collected with nine days to go until polling day.

This equates to nearly 11 per cent of those entitled to vote in the referendum to be held on April 11.

The latest figures for Tuesday night, made available by the Electoral Commission, showed that the locality with the highest number of uncollected voting documents was St Paul’s Bay with 3,336.

It was followed by Sliema with 1,856 and Birkirkara with 1,706.

In terms of districts, the 12th – which includes St Paul’s Bay – has the highest number of uncollected voting documents, with almost 6,000 still sitting in boxes at police stations.

The 10th district, which includes Sliema, has the second highest number of uncollected documents at 3,585.

The fifth, sixth and seventh districts, considered to be hunter hotbeds, had among the least number of uncollected documents.

Election analysts said the figures were in line with previous electoral experiences.

Voting documents can be collected from police stations until Saturday, after which voters will have to pick them up from the Electoral Office in Valletta. The deadline for collecting the voting document is midnight of Thursday next week.

People will not be able to vote unless they produce the voting document at the polling booth.

The anti-spring hunting campaign has expressed concern over voter apathy, especially in those localities where no local elections will be held. The No camp has repeatedly urged people to collect their voting document as the crucial first hurdle for them is to get more than half the electorate to go out and vote.

The referendum will only be valid if more than half the eligible voters cast their vote.

The most recent No campaign events were held in those localities with the highest number of uncollected documents, including Marsascala, Birkirkara, St Paul’s Bay and Sliema.

In last year’s European Parliament election the number of undelivered voting documents through the door-to-door service carried out by the police was 43,200.

However, this dropped to 21,856 by the deadline for collecting the voting document. The number of uncollected voting documents in the 2014 MEP election equated to 6.3 per cent of registered voters.

The uncollected

District list

District 1: Valletta, Floriana, Ħamrun, Marsa (part of), Pietà, Santa Venera (p/o).
District 2: Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Kalkara, Xgħajra, Żabbar.
District 3: Żejtun, Marsascala, Fgura (p/o).
District 4: Paola, Santa Luċija, Tarxien, Gudja, Għaxaq, Marsa (p/o), Fgura (p/o).
District 5: Birżebbuġa, Kirkop, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, Żurrieq.
District 6: Qormi, Siġġiewi, Luqa.
District 7: Mdina, Żebbuġ, Dingli, Mġarr, Mtarfa, Rabat.
District 8: Birkirkara, Iklin, Lija, Naxxar (p/o), Santa Venera (p/o).
District 9: Għargħur, Msida, San Ġwann, Swieqi, Ta’ Xbiex.
District 10: Gżira, Pembroke, St Julian’s, Sliema.
District 11: Attard, Balzan, Mosta.
District 12: Mellieħa, Naxxar (p/o), St Paul’s Bay.
District 13: Gozo, Comino.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com