Nearly 1,000 eligible voters living abroad have so far booked flights to Malta to cast their vote in the spring hunting referendum.
An Air Malta spokesman said that since reservations opened on Monday, the national airline had received 961 bookings for the return air ticket costing €70, inclusive of taxes and other charges.
The absolute majority of these reservations have been confirmed, he said, while alternate dates or routes have been offered on a few requests. Inbound travel to Malta is possible from April 6 to April 11 and return travel from April 11 to April 19.
The March 2013 general election saw a total of 4,895 people make use of special return flights costing €35.
Responding to comments that some expats were initially encountering difficulties in booking, the spokesman said the call centre had 30 lines open and there were no technical problems.
“It is normal that in the first few days lines are very busy as people try to secure their bookings, but things have since slowed down so customers should have no difficulty getting through.”
It is normal that in the first few days lines are very busy
Travel arrangements are available for eligible voters, including those married to foreigners, studying, working or undergoing medical treatment abroad and their dependants. Dependants include a spouse and child or step-child under 18.
In 2013, an online petition calling for an absentee ballot system attracted over 1,000 signatures and the discussion on offshore voting seems to have been reignited.
“What about electronic voting?” one commentator asked on timesofmalta.com.
“It’s done by most civilised countries. Or is this beyond the capacities of a State that proudly proclaims it is foremost in eGovernment?
”If you can trust your banks to do electronic transactions, why can’t the State set this up?”
Other possible options under consideration include voting by post or voting at Maltese embassies.
The demands of employment or graduate and postgraduate education may make it difficult to leave the country of residence to vote, many pointed out.
In 2013, the Labour Party said any change to the electoral system required an amendment to electoral laws.
“A new government will convene a Constitutional Convention to discuss all necessary constitutional reforms including updates to the electoral process,” a party spokesman said.