Hundreds of polling stations will open their doors at 7am on Saturday to allow thousands of people to vote in the 2024 local and European elections.

You have until polling stations close at 10pm to cast your vote in one of the 117 polling stations across Malta.

Here's a guide on what what the process involves.

What are we voting for and who can vote?

There are two elections happening on Saturday: the European Parliament elections and the council elections. 

Voters will choose six MEPs and will cast their ballots to fill seats across 68 councils in Malta and Gozo. 

The voting documents for the European Parliament and the local council elections are different, marked with EP and KL to help you differentiate between the two.

For the European elections, all Maltese citizens aged 16 and over who are on the electoral register can cast a vote. If you're from another EU member state but living in Malta, you can also vote in the European election in Malta if you've informed the electoral commission of your intention.

The same applies for local elections. However, another group of people - British nationals - can also vote in the council elections but not European elections (because of Brexit).

Voters must collect their voting documents in order to vote. No other forms of identification such as identity card or a passport are acceptable.

Where can I vote?

The polling centre address is indicated on your voting document and is linked to the locality you live in.

Government schools have been turned into makeshift polling stations for the day. 

What happens inside the polling station?

Your voting document has a number that corresponds to the room where you will be voting. Once inside the school, signs will indicate the polling room number assigned to you. Inside the room, you will be greeted by several assistant commissioners and representatives of the major parties.

Once your name is ticked off the voter list from both the EP and local election, you will be handed a copy of the ballot sheets. Make sure that the sheet is rubber stamped on the rear side with the official seal of the Electoral Commission. You can then proceed to vote in privacy in the booths across the room.

Ten voters who can vote without assistance will be allowed inside the polling booth at any one time. Those who require assistance can ask for help from any of the Assistant Electoral Commissioners. 

Depositing a ballot sheet in the box. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

What is on the ballot sheet?

The ballot sheet is a list of all candidates contesting the election. The candidates are grouped in alphabetical order by political party or group. Independent candidates will be listed at the bottom.

The ballot paper shows a list of names with party emblems and photographs of each candidate. The candidates for the Labour, Nationalist and ADPD parties will be written down in red, blue and green ink respectively. The rest will be in black ink.

There are 39 candidates running for the six seats up for grabs in the European elections, including the highest-ever number of independents. 

For the local elections, there are 707 candidates vying for election. 

How do I vote?

Malta uses the single transferable vote system which means that we place numbers in the box beside each candidate’s name, starting from number 1 for the first preference and proceeding with 2, 3, 4 and so on.

Simply mark your preference for each candidate in the box to the right. Put a “1″ in the box beside your first-choice candidate and, if you wish, a “2″ in the box beside your second-choice candidate, a “3″ in the box beside your third-choice candidate, and so on.

Voters can opt to only vote for their first preference but these will not be transferable to any other candidates and will be ‘lost’ after the first-count.

Voters can vote for all candidates on the ballot, just a few of them or just one. They may also cross vote which means placing a number beside candidates from different political groupings, including independents. 

The local and European ballot papers are separate from each other, so there are two sets of preferences for each paper.

At the centre of the room, there will be two ballot boxes – one for the European Parliament election and another for the local council election where voters must deposit their ballot.

Make sure the side with the rubber stamp is facing the electoral commissioners when you vote. 

The reconciliation of ballot sheets at the counting hall in Naxxar. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

What not to do

Numbers must be clearly written inside the box, without touching the border of the box.

Any other mark on the ballot sheet which is not a number will invalidate the ballot sheet.

The local and European ballot papers are separate from each other, so there are two sets of preferences for each paper.

If you make a mistake, don’t worry. Hand back your paper to the electoral commissioners. They will put that paper in with spoiled ballots and give you another ballot sheet.

Anyone who is unable to read or write may ask for assistance.

Only numbers can be written on the ballot sheet. Photo: Jonathan Borg

What time are results expected?

When polling stations close at 10pm, officials reconcile the number of voting documents distributed in each polling booth with the number of voting documents collected. The ballot box is sealed and transported to the counting hall in Naxxar in coaches.

When all boxes reach the counting hall and reconciled, they are unsealed and ballots distributed on long tables, where counting agents turn them face down to confirm that they are all rubber-stamped. The sorting process will start at 9am on Sunday.

The ballots will then be passed through scanning machines and the scans uploaded on screens where party agents can start tallying the votes.

While the political parties are expected to have a clear result by late morning, a pretty precise indication of the result will be known around an hour into the vote scanning process. This will be based on samples taken by the main political parties who will then project the predicted result.

How are votes counted?

To be elected, a candidate must receive a minimum number of votes, known as the quota. In the European elections, this is calculated by dividing the number of valid votes by seven - one more than the six who must be elected. Once this quota is reached, the candidate is elected. In the 2019 MEP election, the quota stood at 37,174 votes. 

All surplus votes obtained by an elected candidate which is the difference between the vote they receive, and the quota are then transferred to other candidates according to the next preferences expressed by voters on a ballot paper.

If there are no further surplus votes to be distributed and there are still unfilled seats, the candidates with the fewest votes start being eliminated and their votes transferred to the voters' next preferences. The transfer of votes and elimination of candidates continues until all seats are filled. 

The votes will be counted at the counting hall in Naxxar. Photo: Jonathan Borg

When will we know who is elected?

While the overall result can be calculated soon after the scanning starts, knowing who are the six MEPs who will be representing Malta in Brussels and Strasbourg is more of a somewhat complex process. Given the STV system, votes are inherited by candidates from those who are struck out of the race.

The first count will likely elect the frontrunners who would have achieved or surpassed the national quota. 

What about the council election results?

The same process will be repeated for the council elections, starting from Wednesday.

Vote-counting of the local council elections will take place over three days between Wednesday and Friday.