Updated 6.40pm with PL statement
Flaws in a new electronic vote counting system set to be used for next May’s MEP and council elections could give rise to electoral fraud, possibly through the “buying of votes”, the Nationalist Party has warned.
In view of this it has called on the Electoral Commission and the company entrusted with providing ballot sheet scanning equipment to address the situation urgently, in order to “restore” the party’s trust in the system.
PN Secretary General Clyde Puli sounded the alarm bells on Monday afternoon in a news conference at the party headquarters in Pieta.
The party was reacting to a story published by The Malta Independent on Sunday which said that the new electronic voting counting system had been modified without the Electoral Commission’s consent.
Mr Puli said that the PN was four square behind measures to expedite the counting process.
However, he noted that problems immediately cropped up following an initial mock test carried out a fortnight ago, which resulted in over 40 per cent of the ballot sheets being rejected.
Watch: Election results in six hours instead of three days
Those rejected sheets subsequently had to be manually scrutinised, thus defeating the whole purpose of having an e-counting system. Moreover, he said that there were significant inconsistencies, as similar votes were read differently by the scanners.
In the second mock test, carried out last Saturday “strange things happened”, Mr Puli said, prompting the PN to raise its concerns with the Commission.
“When PN officials enquired, we learnt that the scanning mechanism had been modified, so that the area being scanned on the ballot sheet had been tampered without the authorisation of the commission,” he said.
“This resulted in a reduction of the area being scanned, and parts of the ballot sheet being completely ignored by the scanner,” the PN secretary general added, warning that this could lead to voters being able to mark the ballot sheet in order to identify themselves and their voting preferences, the PN said.
“This could result in the buying of votes, as it would give the opportunity for people to mark the ballot sheet in order to prove that they voted as instructed,” Mr Puli said.
Furthermore, he expressed concern that had it not been for the PN, this “tampering” would have never come to light.
“It is like having a strong room accessible with three keys, but at the same time having one master key in circulation,” he said.
Mr Puli insisted that election results should reflect the will of the electorate.
“Our trust in the electoral system has been eroded, and it is up to the commission and the company to win it back,” he remarked.
While noting that the e-counting system had failed, the PN said such situation was unacceptable.
“This system cannot be used in the next elections,” he insisted.
Stop trying to deflect attention - PL
The Labour Party said the PN was trying to sensationalise Saturday's mock test instead of trying to come up with its own proposals.
This was in line with the attitude taken by former PN leader Simon Busuttil who had claimed that people's votes would be annulled, the PL said in a statement.
"There's no doubt that the PN spin is intended to deflect attention from the PN leader Adrian Delia who is now a victim of his own words."
The Sunday Times reported that a London-based prostitution racket and the alleged involvement of Dr Delia are part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation by the police.