Updated | Nationalist Party suggests systematic tampering of electoral register

The deputy leader of the Nationalist Party Beppe Fenech Adami has insisted that a significant number of people listed in the electoral register are in possession of two ID card numbers, adding that this was a serious threat to the country's democratic process.

"This is a very serious case because we are now touching on a fundamental democratic right. Every person has the right to vote and to vote only once," Fenech Adami said.

The claims of people having more than one ID card numbers, and therefore affecting the number of votes that person is eligible to have, were first made by the Malta Independent in March. The newspaper said that an internal report it had seen showed that out of a sample of 300 people on the ID card registry, 80 have been found to have more than one ID card, with five people – all foreign nationals – holding up to three ID cards under the same name but with three different ID numbers.

Asked whether the PN believed that this was being done intentionally and systematically, Fenech Adami said that denials by both the Prime Minister and justice minister Owen Bonnici raised serious questions.

"The fact is that from a sample of 300, 80 were found. This is fact, then we also had a denial. When you have the denial of a fact, the plot thickens," Fenech Adami said.

He said that following a number of reports appearing in the Malta Independent, it had now come to light that out of a sample of 300 names from the register, 80 were found to be in possession of more than one ID card number.

"If an election were to be held tomorrow, these people would be able to vote twice," Fenech Adami said, adding that the matter was further complicated by the fact that those with a second ID card numbers had taken that of a another individual.

Moreover, he stressed that verifying the full extent of the problem was a very difficult exercise that would require manually checking photos associated with each name and ID number.

Asked how the PN could verify that what was being said was true, Fenech Adami said that while political parties did not have access to voter photos, it had verified and confirmed what was being said by the Malta Independent.

The PN deputy leader accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of facilitating this through appointment of people close to the Labour Party such as Identity Malta chairperson Joe Vella Bonnici.

Herman Schiavone, who also addressed the press conference, stressed that this was not the first suspicious case involving Identity Malta. He said that there were serious questions raised on the agency's involvement in the "Algerian visas scandal", as well as corruption related to Libyan residence permits.

Current ID card system better than previous one, government argues

In a statement issued by the ministry of local government, the government rebutted the claims once more, insisting that there is “no crisis in the ID card system,” denying that the sample of 300 ID cards was ever taken.

“The ID card system currently in place is strong and better than the system that existed under the previous government,” the statement said.

The government added that only Maltese citizens are allowed to vote in general elections and that foreigners are given residence documents – not ID cards.

“For this reason, when Beppe Fnech Adeami quotes cases of foreigners that are not even in possession of an ID card, he is doing this with the clear intention of creating confusion and attacking the credibility of the agency [Identity Malta].”