Today all over Malta and Gozo the Maltese are voting in the Divorce Referendum.

At around 7.30am on voting day, His Excellency the Archbishop of Malta Paul Cremona voted in the referendum.

He voted in the Attard Primary School which is the sole voting place in that region. This school has 13 voting boxes from number 443 to 455.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat voted in Burmarrad at 11:30, while PM Lawrence Gonzi voted in Marsaskala at 10.30am.
The President of Malta George Abela voted at 10am in Marsaskala.

Voting opened at 7am and ended at 10pm. The Referendum campaign finished on midnight last Thursday. The Electoral Commission at that time stopped its distribution of voting documents.

Uncollected votes amount to 20775 which amounts to 6.4% of all registered voters for this referendum. It is almost four times larger than the last referendum held in Malta – the one held for Malta’s entry in the EU.

Comparing this with the last election for the MEP’s in 2009, uncollected votes amounted this time to 5000 more than that time.
There are 325,103 persons eligible to vote in this referendum.

Malta, gained its independence in 1964, and joined the European Union in 2004.

Voting turnout by district:
Section 1 71%
Section 2 71%
Section 3 72%
Section 4 73%
Section 5 72%
Section 6 70%
Section 7 72%
Section 8 73%
Section 9 71%
Section 10 71%
Section 11 75%
Section 12 69%
Section 13 70%

Total for all localities: 72%

After the unofficial result 54% Yes vs 46% No, PM Lawrence Gonzi has conceded the result to the yes camp meaning that divorce will be legislated in parliament.

Voti Mitfugha – Votes Polled 232691
Voti Validi – Valid Votes 230518
Voti IVA – Yes Votes 122547 (52.67%)

Voti LE – NO Votes – 107971 (46.4%)

Voti Invalidi – Invalid Votes 2173 (0.93%)

Official results can be found here

I will be posting any relevant information here later today and tomorrow….
The Labour Party, PL, has claimed victory with around 55% of the votes.

There are 5 seats for Malta i the European Parliament, and a 6th will be allocated to Malta.

Both present PN MEP’s Simon Busuttil and David Casa were re-elected. Labour’s Louis Grech and John Attard Montalto were re-elected, as were new candidates Joseph Cuschieri and Economist Edward Scicluna.

The local council election vote-counting at Naxxar counting centre has started. Xghajra’s mayor has been elected, it is Anthony Valvo (PL) with 385 first count votes, on a promise to make Xghajra the most beautiful locality of Malta and Gozo. The quota was of 147 votes.
There are 23 localities in which councillors will be elected.

77.19% of all registered voters voted in Mdina, Cospicua, Żabbar, Victoria, Birkirkara, Sliema, San Ġwann, Fgura, Gudja, Għarb, Għaxaq, Kalkara, Lija, Marsascala, Mġarr, Msida, Naxxar, Pieta, Rabat, Sannat, Tarxien, Xgħajra and Mtarfa.

There was only one locality where less than 70% of registered voters voted, Sliema.
Voting rate was highest in Gudja, 87.1% and lowest in Sliema, 64.84%. The biggest locality is Birkirkara, where 13 councillors are to be elected.

Both PN (Nationalist Party) and PL (Labour Party) had 133 candidates each. Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) had 3. There were 3 independent candidates.

Back in 2006 when voting was held these same localities, there was a turnout of 65.5%, which was lower than this year and may be due to the fact that in 2006 there were no MEP elections.

The MLP won the 2006 elections with 53.96% of the vote compared to 42.90% for the PN and 1.78 for Alternattiva Demokratika.

Norman Lowell has said he has surpassed AD in his MEP (2009) votes.

All over Malta and Gozo, polling stations closed at 10pm today Saturday 6th June 2009.
Voting took place for the election of 5 MEPs – members of the European Parliament.
23 localities also voted for their local councils.

Voting was calm in most places. An incident was reported at the location of Zejtun, according to Police a PN supporter got punched and injured in an argument.

Turnout up to 2pm for the European Parliament elections topped the figure of 34% (4% down compared to 2004),according to the Electoral Commission. Local council election turnout was averaged at 33%.
For comparison, the turnout was of 35% by 2pm, the last time when local council elections were held with EP elections (localities differed though).

Turnout for the MEP voting was highest in the first district, 42%, and lowest in the 12th district (21%).

District 1
42%

District 2
35%

District 3
37%

District 4
39%

District 5
25%

District 6
37%

District 7
33%

District 8
36%

District 9
36%

District 10
37%

District 11
36%

District 12
21%

District 13
31%

President George Abela and PM Lawrence Gonzi voted at Marsascala Primary School in the morning.
PL leader Joseph Muscat voted in Burmarrad in a classroom, where he used to go for Catechism lessons as a child.

Arnold Cassola, AD party leader, cast his ballot in Pembroke.

These are the 2nd elections to be held in Malta since Malta joined the EU. 34 candidates took part.
When the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, the candidate who comes closest to being elected, but fails, will be declared elected and will be given the sixth seat that is given to Malta.

A total of 306,549 were eligible to vote today, and 15,862 voting documents remained uncollected.

The first EP elections were held in Malta back in 2004. In that election there were 27 candidates and turnout was of 82.4%.

OFFICIAL RESULTS BY DOI : http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/elections/2009/EU_Parlelections/eu_parl1.asp

One third of the Maltese electorate voted yesterday. However 8805 voting documents remained unclaimed – a very high figure for Maltese local council elections.