Updated | Labour electoral commission investigates Robert Abela’s complaint on alleged voter list manipulation

Updated at 2.30pm with Labour Party's electoral commission statement

The Labour Party’s electoral commission has investigated a complaint filed by leadership candidate Robert Abela that unauthorised persons had added people to the list of eligible voters.

Abela filed the complaint over allegations that three people who work in Chris Fearne’s ministry were seen inside the membership office at Labour HQ on New Year's Eve inputting names in the list of eligible voters.

Abela has claimed that the list of voters for Saturday’s contest was vitiated.

However, in a statement on Monday afternoon, the electoral commission said the media reports were based on "false assertions". It insisted that the members' database did not allow candidate representatives to input names at will.

The party's electoral commission, headed by Pembroke mayor Dean Hili, investigated the complaint and communicated its findings with Abela earlier today.

READ ALSO: Labour CEO refutes voter manipulation claims by leadership contestant Robert Abela

Sources close to the party have suggested that the complaint was based on “wrong information”.

There was no reference to these complaints during yesterday evening’s debate on One TV between the candidates, who put up a façade of camaraderie.

Attempts to contact the PL electoral commission and Abela's campaign team have so far proved futile.

PL electoral commission: reports contain a number of false assertions

The PL's electoral commission said that reports alleging vote tampering contained a number of false assertions, "including the allegation that canvassers of a candidate were inputting date."

The Commission said that such a thing never occurred and the electronic system is purposely designed so as not to allow for such a situation to happen.

"The electoral process that will lead to the election of a new leader has a number of levels of checks and balances and this is being done in close collaboration with representatives of the candidates and the candidates themselves," the Commission said in a statement. 

"While there were some issues that were addressed during the process, the Electoral Commission can ensure that the process is a fair and diligent one. The processing of information in relation to voter eligibility is being done in accordance with the party’s statute and the rules agreed upon by the parties concerned."