Cross-voting in Malta?

Dr Joe Brincat (The Sunday Times, April 20) addressed an interesting question about voting habits in Malta. He asked to what extent Maltese voters engage in "cross-voting", that is, to what extent do they divide their vote preferences among candidates of different parties.

The electoral system certainly gives them a completely free hand in distributing their preferences among candidates regardless of their party affiliation. But how have they used that opportunity in the most recent election?

Dr Brincat looked at second preferences in several districts and computed the number and percentage of transferred votes, which went from candidates of the PN to candidates of the MLP.

Unfortunately, his counting of the votes was not always accurate. Thus, it was 57 and not 176 votes that were transferred from Giovanna Debono to MLP candidates. Also, his method was inconsistent, as he computed percentages of the number of transferred surplus votes and, alternately, of the number of votes a candidate had obtained before the vote transfer.

It might be instructive to look at all districts in the recent election. Then a pattern appears that has been observable in previous elections as well. It is a pattern of remarkable party solidarity, a near universal unwillingness of Maltese voters to have any of their voting preferences go to candidates of different parties.

The only recent exception here is the Alternattiva. (The transfer vote patterns for earlier elections, going back as far as 1921, can be found at http://www.maltadata.com/transfer.htm.)

What were the actual figures in this election? Looking at the first person elected in each district and how that person's surplus votes were distributed, there was a total of 29,557 transfer votes and of these a mere 170 votes, or 0.58 per cent, were transferable to candidates of the opposing party. Cross-voting obviously did not occur in any significant way.

There is a detectable difference between the two parties in this regard. The PN vote transfers to the MLP amounted to 0.71 per cent, compared to the MLP's 0.38 per cent.

The higher rate for the PN might possibly be attributed to voters who gave only their first, but not later, preferences to the PN because of the EU membership issue. But this is not very likely because similar differences prevailed in earlier elections. In any event, all of the percentages here are essentially trivial.

Given these figures, I find it impossible to agree with Dr Brincat's claim that "there was strong cross-party voting when it came to second preferences". The Maltese system was designed to promote cross-voting but Maltese voters disdain that opportunity.