15,312 voting documents go uncollected, slightly more than in 2022

A total of 15,312 voting documents have gone uncollected, which is equivalent to 4.29% of the electorate. The percentage is a slight increase over the same statistic in the 2022 general election. Back then, 14,473 voting documents were not collected – equivalent to 4.07%. The figure remains significantly higher than in 2017, where just 8,372 voting documents went uncollected, a 2.44% share. The data shows that the districts with the most uncollected votes were the 12 th and 10 th district, where there were 2,433 votes and 2,000 votes not collected – equivalent to 9.24% and 7.23% of the respective districts The 12 th district is made up of St Paul’s Bay, Mellieha and Mgarr, while the 10 th district is made up of Gzira, Pembroke, St Julian’s, Sliema, and part of Naxxar. Both districts are known to have a higher population of naturalised citizens who may have less of an interest in local politics, and they are consistently the districts with the highest share of uncollected votes. There were also slight increases in the percentage of votes which were not collected in the 1 st , 8 th , 9 th , and 11 th districts compared to last election. In the 1 st district, which is made up of Valletta, Floriana, Hamrun, Marsa, Santa Venera, Guardamangia, and part of Birkirkara, 1,199 votes were not collected – equivalent to 4.46%, and an increase of 0.39 percentage points when compared to 2022. In the 8 th district, which is made up of the rest of Birkirkara, Balzan, Iklin, Lija, and part of Naxxar, there were 1,009 votes not collected – equivalent to 3.62%, and an increase of 0.5 percentage points when compared to 2022. The 9 th district, made up of Msida, Gharghur, Pieta, San Gwann, Swieqi, and Ta’ Xbiex, had 1,444 votes which were not collected – equivalent to 5.30%, and an increase of 0.57 percentage points compared to 2022. The 11 th district, made up of Attard and Mosta, saw a similar increase in the percentage of uncollected voted. There were 965 uncollected voting documents – equivalent to 3.62%, which is an increase of 0.56 percentage points. Meanwhile, there were slight decreases in the percentage of uncollected votes in the 3 rd , 4 th , and 13 th districts. The 3 rd district is made up of Zejtun, Ghaxaq, Marsaxlokk, and most of Marsascala. The 4 th district is made up of Paola, Tarxien, Gudja, Santa Lucija, and most of Fgura. The 13 th district is the whole island of Gozo. The 3 rd district saw a decrease of 0.23 percentage points; the 4 th district saw a decrease of 0.16 percentage points; and the 13 th district saw a decrease of 0.29 percentage points. Voting documents which are uncollected are now unable to be used. Polls will open on Saturday morning, and remain open until 10pm.