Identità systematically withholds electoral forms from EU citizens

“What??? I could have voted in Malta?”

These words of astonishment kicked off a NEWZ.mt investigation into further wrongdoing at Malta’s scandal-shaken government agency for IDs, visas and work permits.

At Identità, EU citizens registering their residency in Malta are usually provided with an electoral form to register whether they want to vote for Maltese MEP candidates – or for those in their country of origin.

Only at that point would citizens of the European Union effectively be made aware of their options, as Malta’s Electoral Commission has kept public information targeting expatriates at the bare minimum.

Electoral fraud?

However, officials at Identità Malta’s EU section systematically withheld both general information and the respective form for voter registration itself, at least since the beginning of this year.

This newsroom looked into five separate cases whereby individuals who registered their residency in Malta between January and July 2024 said they were in no way pointed to this mandatory process.

In our exemplary case of Sven from Sweden*, the agency only admitted upon the registrant’s enquiry that its officials had not followed usual procedures.

A reply from Identità seen by NEWZ.mt reads that the “normal procedure” is that the electoral form “will be automatically provided to the applicant” when visiting the agency’s office “for the biometrics”.

Another EU national’s complaint over the phone was simply dismissed, followed by the information they could visit the agency again in order to fill in the form.

“This is just another creative way of electoral fraud” – registrant

“I could have conveniently voted from Malta for my preferred political group in the European Parliament”, Paula from Poland* angrily told this newsroom.

Paula would have been well in time with her registration to be included in the electoral register for the MEP election which was published in April 2024.

“This is just another creative way of electoral fraud, but at the very least it is maliciously depriving EU citizens from exercising their basic rights”, Paula said.

It is understood that thousands of EU nationals have newly registered their residency in Malta since the beginning of the year. It is also understood that Identità left most of them uninformed about their voting options.

*The real identities of the individuals quoted are being withheld for personal security reasons.

PN: ‘No confidence in Identità’

“The Nationalist Party has no confidence in Identità regarding all matters related to the electoral system and the conduct of elections”, the opposition told NEWZ.mt

Over the past years, Identità has “systematically withheld information from the Electoral Commission, despite being legally obliged to provide it under Malta’s electoral laws”, the PN complained.

“Recent court decisions have also confirmed widespread abuses by Identità officials in the issuance of identity cards and voter registration”, Alex Vassallo, the director of the PN’s own electoral office said.

“It is also clear that little or no verification is being done by the Electoral Commission once data is received from Identità. This situation has led to numerous abuses, as can be seen in this very case regarding EU residents”, Vassallo added.

The PN pointed out it has consistently insisted that the Electoral Commission be granted full access to all documents and data held by Identità relating to persons entitled to vote in order to ensure free and fair elections in Malta.

Update Sunday | Identità Malta remains silent on having systematically withheld electoral forms, while European Parliament has issued a non-statement.

Cover Image: Freepik