General Elections

Last Updated: 18/02/2022

VOTING DURING THE GENERAL ELECTIONS

(This guide also applies for Referenda)

1. The General Election Electoral Register lists the names, surnames, Identity numbers and addresses of those persons who are registered as electors and shown in the Electoral Register which is published twice a year, in April and October. 

The Register is published in 13 volumes (Districts). This lists Maltese citizens entitled to vote to elect members of the House of Representatives and for Referenda.

2. One may check the voting status by clicking here. One must have readily available the Identity Card number, surname and date of birth. The full set of the Register in hard copy may be viewed at the Electoral Office. In case of any difficulty, one can also contact the Electoral Office on telephone number 2558 3000 or send an email to [email protected] and provide the Identity Card number. 

3. A person shall be qualified to be registered as a voter for this Register if:

1. Is a citizen of Malta;
2. Has attained the age of sixteen years; and
3. Resident in Malta and during the eighteen months immediately preceeding the registration been a resident for a continuous period of six months or for periods amounting in the aggregate to six months.

4. The closing dates for the publication of the Register are the 31st March and the 30th September.

5. For Voting Document purposes, the Electoral Office, uses the last photographic image of the voter shown on the Identity Card. Therefore, it is necessary that one  personally calls at the following offices:

6. The Electoral Office, receives the relevant application forms to be correctly registered as an elector, at the same time, a person applies for the Identity Card.

7. Any application for an inclusion, change or disqualification of an elector is reflected in the upcoming Register to be published.

8. An elector is registered strictly on the address and the division whereby he resides.

9. Any person may lodge an appeal, on his/her behalf or someone else’s stead, to remove the name of a voter who has lost one or more eligibility requirements to be registered as a voter or any change in one of the particulars.

10. For those residing in Malta, the appeal is to be submitted at the Registrar’s office at the Law Courts, Valletta, Malta, whereas for Gozo residents the appeal is to be submitted at the Registrar’s office at the Law Courts, Rabat, Gozo, within 21 days from the publication of the Electoral Register. There are no fees payable for these appeals.

11. During the first phase of the delivery of voting documents, a voting document shall be delivered at the elector’s registered address by a Police Officer or by any other person appointed by the Electoral Commission. As proof of delivery, the person to whom it is addressed, or any other adult person, who either resides at the same address or is in his employment, at the address of the voter as shown in the Electoral Register must sign for the voting document. Each Political Party, represented in the House of Representatives, has the right to nominate one representative to accompany each Police Officer during delivery.

12. Once the door to door delivery is completed and no one was at home when the Police Officer called, the elector may collect the voting document by calling personally at the Police Station (or Local Council in certain localities) of the town or village where he/she is registered. The Voting Document is to be collected by the elector himself on presentation of a valid Identity Card. Collection of voting documents on behalf of any other elector is precluded.

13. Once the days allocated for the collection of voting documents from the Police Station/Local Council expires, an elector who is registered in Malta may personally collect his/her voting document from the Electoral Commission's office, wheras, if one is registered in Gozo, from the Electoral Office in Rabat, Gozo, on presentation of a valid Identity Card.

14. The guidelines for prospective candidates are issued once an election date is announced.

15. On Polling Day, in order to cast the vote, one must present his/her voting document to the Assistant Electoral Commissioners at the polling station indicated on the voting document itself. Polling stations will be open from 7.00am to 10.00pm. No one is allowed to vote without presenting the voting document issued by the Electoral Commission.

16. Voting in Malta is not compulsory.

17. Malta uses the Single-Transferable Vote (STV) system. The STV system is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting. An elector shall have one transferable vote. In casting the vote, one must place a number ‘1’ against the name of the candidate for whom he/she desires most to see elected. Additionally, the elector may also indicate the order of preference for as many candidates as he/she desires as second choice. Then one shall repeat the reference to a third or any subsequent preference until he/she does not desire to express any further choice.