Last March's general election may have seen one of the lowest turnouts in local political history, but it was still high enough to propel Malta to the top of the league of countries with the highest voter turnout in free elections.
Malta ranks fifth overall in the world in terms of voter turnout, according to global election watchdog International Foundation for Electoral Systems. However, with a 93.3 per cent turnout at the last election, it places top in the list of free countries in which people are not required by law to vote.
The elections in Turkmenistan, Rwanda and Russia, which topped the list, are not considered to be free and open by the organisation Freedom House, which rates countries in terms of political and personal freedoms citizens enjoy. Meanwhile, voting is compulsory in Australia.
IFES researcher Eric Lynn said that many factors are at play in electoral turnout, but an important one seems to be the perceived effect that an individual vote will have on how the country is run.
"Malta has a single legislature with a near monopoly on political power. This, in combination with a two-party system in which parties win by small margins and swing votes can alter dramatically the outcome of an election, make Malta a country where vote salience (importance) is high," he said.
In western Europe, voter turnout averages 77 per cent, though it has been in decline for the past 40 years. IFES's figures show that the decline in voter turnout is almost totally concentrated in the younger generations. Those who came of voting age before 1960 seem to continue to vote at the higher turnout rates.
There are a number of competing explanations for the decline in turnout among voters in these stable democracies but an IFES electoral expert says that stable politics makes for less interesting politics, and consequently less interest in politics on the part of younger voters.
Mark Franklin, a political scientist at the European University Institute, had used Malta as a case study in his 2004 book Voter Turnout.
The critical thing that seems to account for Malta's high turnout is the unique combination of a closely-matched two-party system with a form of proportional representation, Dr Franklin told The Sunday Times.
Most countries with proportional representation have multiparty systems and coalition governments. This means that its positive effects are mitigated by the fact that the election does not lead immediately to a government formed by the winning party, but to a period of bargaining between the parties before a coalition government is formed. Such a government may bear very little relation to voters' wishes, reducing the importance of the election to voters, Dr Franklin said.
A definitive connection between votes and policy is a critical requirement for high turnout.
"Malta has the advantage of a direct connection between votes and government. It also has the situation where every vote not needed to elect one MP supposedly goes towards helping to elect another. This situation is, to the best of my knowledge, unique in the entire world," Dr Franklin said.
Anthropologist Mark Anthony Falzon believes the prime reason why voter turnout is so high is self-interest.
Given the combination of 'winner takes all' and patronage, access to resources is very much linked to parties, he said.
"We must keep in mind that, given our parties' all-seeingness and all-knowingness, every individual is very visibly a Nationalist or a Labourite. There is little escaping one's true calling. Thus, having your party in power is a bit like having your uncle ladle out the gruel.
"Given the size of the island, issues cannot really be 'distant' - Marsaxlokk residents will complain about the Mellieħa road - there is nothing but our back yard," Dr Falzon said.
Politicians, too, are very visible - people tend to know them or know someone who does. In this context it is not surprising that 'alienation', which is what people in many other countries worry about, is not much of an issue in Malta.
Research also shows that high rates of voter turnout in countries like Malta reflect a lack of critical thought about politics - "our laziness to produce apathy, so to speak".
"I think it's fair to say that people vote by default in Malta; in this context, and in the vein of the deafening silence paradox, not voting can be considered a form of strong affirmative political action. Alas, it is also uncommon," Dr Falzon said.
Countries and percentage turnout (last election)
Turkmenistan - 98.9
Rwanda - 96.5
Russia - 95.8
Australia - 95.1
Malta - 93.3
Burundi - 93.3
Greece - 93
Belarus - 92.9
Bahamas - 92