A 120-year old woman, born on February 3, 1895, is 'entitled' to vote in the next Balzan local council election, according to the latest electoral register published two months ago.
The register also lists two 116-year old ladies, born on September 10, 1899 and September 24, 1899, who may vote in the Gżira and St Paul’s Bay local elections respectively.
Another two 115-year old women from Msida and St Julian’s complete the list of the five oldest people, all foreign, who are entitled to vote – if the register is to be believed.
They are among 134 voters, 95 women and 39 men, whose ages span between 100 and 120 and who are included in the October 2015 electoral register.
134 voters, 95 women and 39 men, whose ages span between 100 and 120, are included in the electoral register
Fifty-five of these centenarians are Maltese citizens, of which 48 were born in Malta and seven in Gozo. The oldest registered Maltese is 113 and supposedly lives in Rabat while a 108-year-old Gozitan is registered in Victoria.
The likelihood is, of course, that a lot of these people are dead.
The Civil Registry regularly updates the Electoral Commission about the registered deaths and the commission then strikes them off the register.
However, sources told the Times of Malta that persons who die abroad and whose death is not registered at the Civil Registry usually remain listed.
When contacted, the Chief Electoral Commissioner said the commission was aware of this issue and was considering a number of legal amendments to be recommended to the government.
Under law, the commission must follow rigid rules in striking voters off the register. It can only do so on presentation of a death certificate, a prison sentence or a court decree.
A court decree is issued after the Magistrate’s Court hears and decides upon a request filed by any person within 21 days from the publication of the register.
The electoral register lists the names, surnames, Identity or eResidence Card numbers and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote in elections and referenda. It is published in three parts every April and October.
The General Elections register is issued in 13 volumes that are district-based and lists persons entitled to elect members of the House of Representatives or of the European Parliament, and in national referenda.
Only citizens of Malta who have reached 18 years of age and who have resided here for at least six months of the previous 18 may be included in the register.
Persons entitled to vote in the local councils elections are listed in the local councils register, published in 68 volumes, one for each locality.
Besides Maltese citizens, any citizen of a European Union member state may apply to be included in this register, so long as he or she is at least 16 years old, is officially resident in the Maltese Islands and is in possession of an identity card or eResidence card.
Finally, the European Union electoral register includes the non-Maltese EU citizens registered as residents in the Maltese Islands who opt to apply to vote in Malta to elect members to the European Parliament.