Desk officers at the Electoral Commission sent e-mails to a number of IIP citizenship holders to inform them that they did not meet the necessary criteria, as laid out by Malta’s Constitution, to be placed on the Electoral Register. Despite this, these same individuals were still given a right to vote in Malta. In one particular e-mail exchange, an Electoral Commission desk officer sent an e-mail to an IIP citizenship holder about how according to her application, she did not meet the criteria to be able to vote. This e-mail was forwarded by the applicant to an IIP agent asking him/her to “sort this out.” The IIP agent then e-mailed the Electoral Commission (photo above) to halt the processing of the application. Again, despite the desk officer doing their job, the person was still placed on the Electoral Register.
This begs the question: Why were these applications processed despite both an IIP agent asking for this to be halted and an Electoral Commission employee flagging up irregularities? Whether simple administrative failures are to blame, or other factors, still remains to be seen.
In the e-mails sent by desk officers, it clearly states that the applicant did not meet the requirements, specifically the requirement of needing to have resided in Malta for six months out of 18 prior to the publication of an electoral register. The other two requirements are being in possession of Maltese citizenship and being over 18 years of age.
Full Article: Passport buyers still given the right to vote despite red flags raised by Electoral Commission – The Malta Independent.
