The head of the European Parliament’s office in Malta, Julian Vassallo, today welcomed the advice given to the Prime Minister by the Attorney General where he said that the striking off of 945 non-Maltese EU citizens from the Electoral Register was unlawful.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Vassallo said the Attorney General had confirmed the views expressed earlier by his office.
He also welcomed Dr Gonzi’s letter to the Electoral Commission where he asked it declare, by Monday, how these people will be reinstated in the register.
Dr Vassallo expressed satisfaction that the Prime Minister was seeking remedy to a "serious and urgent" situation where EU citizens risked being denied their fundamental political right to vote.
Earlier this week, Dr Vassallo wrote to the Prime Minister about the issue, pointing out that it was difficult to reconcile the action of the Electoral Commission with a European Union directive on the right of EU citizens to vote in the European Elections.
"The Attorney General's advice to the Prime Minister - that the procedure used by the Electoral Commission to cancel 945 people was unlawful and not according to procedure - confirms the serious reservations we had expressed from the beginning," Dr Vassallo said.
"The Electoral Commission's mistake needs to be remedied, as denying citizens the right to vote has very serious consequences."
"Dr Vassallo said senior officials in the European Parliament had expressed serious concern about the situation in Malta, and said the EP looked forward to a solution.
He insisted that in terms of EU law, these people should not have been struck off without their knowledge and should not, therefore, have been required to re-apply in order to be able to vote in Malta in the European Parliament elections on June 6.
Dr Vassallo also regretted the attitude of some officials of the Electoral Commission, saying there had been cases, particularly in Gozo, where non-Maltese EU citizens had not been able to fine the required forms to apply to be included in the electoral register in Malta.
The AG in his assessment, concluded that the procedure used by the Electoral Commission to cancel voters was not founded at law. The procedure did not have any legal basis either in Malta's European Parliament Elections Act or in the relevant EU Directive, the AG said.
Under both these laws, once enrolled in the register, "persons shall remain so enrolled and can only be removed from the roll either at their own request or if they no longer satisfy the requirements for exercising the right to vote".
Of those who were originally registered in the April 2004 register only 118 reapplied and consequently 945 persons of the number originally registered (1,063) no longer appeared in the June 2009 register.