Where will you be voting? It may be a different district come next election

Voters in Naxxar will be forgiven come next election if they cannot recognise any of the candidates on their ballot sheet.

For the second time in a row, a proposed revision of electoral districts will see Naxxar voters cast their ballot in a different district.

The core community in Naxxar will be voting in the 8th District rather than the 12th District in the next general election if a proposal put forward by the Electoral Commission gets parliament’s green light. The proposal, which MaltaToday had revealed in February, was tabled in parliament last week.

Additionally, more Naxxar voters will be hived off from the locality and joining their compatriots who were shifted into the 10th District in the last election.

The change is one of several others being proposed as part of a revision in district boundaries. The revision is required by the Constitution, which lays down that districts have to have a variance in voting population size of plus or minus 5% between them.

Another significant shift being proposed is the hiving off of more than 4,000 voters from Birkirkara, who will now be voting in the 1st District rather than the 8th.

The Birkirkara streets (red) that will be shifted to the 1st District from the 8th (Image: Google Maps)

At the same time, almost 2,000 voters in Pieta will be split from their community, which voted in the 1st District last time around, and shifted to the 9th District for the next election.

Similarly, 733 voters who live in Marsaskala’s Zonqor Heights will be hived off from their locality and shifted to the 2nd District. Marsaskala currently has 10,436 voters, who until the last election voted together in the 3rd District.

Malta and Gozo are divided into 13 electoral districts with each electing five MPs, who have to reach a district quota. However, the final composition of parliament, if only two political parties elect candidates from the initial process, is determined by a formula that ensures proportional representation between national votes obtained and seats.

The adjustment of seats to reflect proportionality dilutes the importance of how the electoral districts are composed, however, this only holds true if only two parties make it to parliament.

Gozo is protected by the Constitution as a distinct region and thus makes up the 13th District irrespective of population size.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party has been clamouring for electoral districts to encompass whole localities in respect of local council boundaries. This, it argues, helps preserve the integrity of communities. The proposal, which would see more radical changes to district compositions, was presented in a minority report alongside that of the Electoral Commission.

It is now up to parliament to approve the changes in time for the next general election.

READ ALSO: ADPD, PN oppose PL plans for electoral district changes