Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
elects on a national level 6
MEPs
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
representing Malta in the European Parliament, on a district level the
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
, On a local level the
Local Councils and on a community level the Administrative Committees.
Malta uses
single transferable vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
to elect its MP/MEP and local councillors. Even though transferable preferences often are used to help third parties, the Maltese voter, since independence, has consistently placed its first-choice vote and its back-up preferences for candidates of one of two dominant
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
, and the country has effectively created a two
party system
A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stab ...
. A third party Representative was elected to Parliament for the first time since Independence in 2017, thanks to the election of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
to Parliament as part of the
Forza Nazzjonali
Forza Nazzjonali ( Maltese for "National Force") was an electoral alliance in Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago ...
coalition.
Legislature
The
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
( mt, Kamra tad-Deputati) has 65 members, elected for a five-year term in 13 five-seat
Electoral divisions, called ''distretti elettorali'', with constitutional amendments that allows for mechanisms to establish strict proportionality amongst seats and votes of political parliamentary groups.
Latest Legislative elections
Timeline of formed governments since 1921
European elections
Malta, the smallest EU member state, includes around 0.1% of the total EU population. Maltese voters elect 6 MEPs (5 until 2011) to the European Parliament, or one every 69,342 voters - the lowest population-per-seat ratio in the EU, 10 times smaller than the EU average (680,000) and 20 times smaller than the largest
European Parliament constituency
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected by the population of the member states of the European Union (EU). The European Electoral Act 2002 allows member states the choice to allocate electoral subdivisions or constituencies (, ...
.
[Davide Denti]
The Electoral Law for the European Parliament in Malta. Effects for Europe of a Single Transferable Vote System in a Polarised Society
in Elżbieta Kużelewska and Dariusz Kloza (eds.), ELECTIONS TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AS A CHALLENGE FOR DEMOCRACY, Warszawa–Białystok, Aspra, 2013, pp. 263-278 Malta is thus the extreme case in the curve of the
degressive proportionality
Degressive proportionality is an approach to the allocation (between regions, states or other subdivisions) of seats in a legislature or other decision-making body. Degressive proportionality means that while the subdivisions do not each elect an e ...
function that allocates European Parliament seats to EU Member States constituencies.
European elections in Malta are held according to the
single transferable vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
(STV) system, consistently with domestic electoral systems and with EU standards requiring proportional representation and use either the list system or STV.
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]
Local elections
In the 2015 local elections, 16-year-olds were allowed to vote for the first time. On March 5, 2018, 16-year-olds were given the right to vote in general elections and can thus vote in the upcoming 2022 general election
Referendums
There are three types of referendums in Malta: constitutional, consultative and abrogative referendums.
The Constitution of Malta mentions the institute of referendum only in Article 66, sub-articles 3 and 4 (and even then implicitly). Those sub-articles requires that a bill be " ..submitted to the electors ..and the majority of the electors voting have approved the bill" in case it modifies:
* sub-article defining the length of parliamentary term to be five years (article 76, sub-article 2), or
* sub-articles defining this procedure (article 66, sub-articles 3 and 4)
Such referendum is binding. This type of referendum has never taken place.
The other categories of referendums are regulated by the Referenda Act. "Consultative" referendums (the Act does not use the term) can either take place prior to the assent of a bill in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
or following the parliamentary procedure in a form of a conditional clause in the said bill. In the former case it would not legally bind Parliament to approve the said legislation irrelevant of the result of the said referendum, however the latter case, it would be conventionally binding on the President to promulgate the bill into law. There has been six referendums like this on a national level, one on a regional level ( 1973 Gozo Civic Council referendum) and a number of local referendums organised by single Local Councils.
An abrogative referendum has never been held and, if invoked and successful, can abrogate pieces of legislation barring some exceptions, notably financial and constitutional law.
There was a total of 6 national referendums in Malta. Of those, 3 referendums were held while Malta was a British crown colony. Those were referendums on:
* eligibility of clergy to sit in the Council of Government in 1870
* integration with United Kingdom in 1956
* independence from United Kingdom in 1964
Three referendums were held in independent Malta:
* European Union membership referendum in 2003
* referendum on divorce in 2011
* referendum on spring hunting in 2015
There was also one local referendum in 1973 in region of Gozo. All seven were non-binding on the colonial and independent government. However, all resulted in a vote in favour of the proposal and, with the exception of the 1956 integration referendum, they were all honoured by the responsible government of the day.
See also
* Electoral calendar
This national electoral calendar for 2022 lists the national/federal elections held in 2022 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
* 16 January: Se ...
* Electoral system
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and Referendum, referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political ...
* Voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
References
External links
Electoral Commission
Department of Information - Malta
Malta Data with details back to 1921
Adam Carr's Election Archive
More on the Malta elections 2013
{{Malta topics