Early voting turnout rises to 90.3% on first day

A total of 16,402 people were eligible to vote early, 9,757 of whom applied to vote early and 6,645 registered under the Elderly Home and CCF categories.

By 2pm, turnout stood at 59.3%, rising to 90.3% by the close of early voting at 10pm, with 14,818 votes cast.

The figure marks a notable increase over the first day of early voting in the 2022 general election, when turnout stood at 85.2%, a rise of five percentage points.

However, the highest number of uncollected voting documents is in the 12 District, which comprises St Paul’s Bay, Mellieħa and Mġarr, followed by Gozo, figures obtained by MaltaToday show. 

The figures show that 4,435 people in the 12 District, or 16.8% of district voters, had not yet collected their voting document by Friday. In Gozo, 4,441 people or 13.9% of the eligible voters in the 13 District, had not collected their voting document.

Early voting was introduced to allow those unable to vote on election day to cast their ballots in advance, including elderly residents and those in care facilities.

Sunday is the last day that voting documents can be picked up from police stations and local councils.  From Monday to Thursday, voters will have to pick up their document from the Electoral Commission in Naxxar or the Experimental Farm in Xewkija if they are Gozitan.