An Italian woman living in Malta is blaming Maltapost for not being able to vote in Sunday’s election in Italy as she never received her mail-in ballot.

She maintains that, despite applying for a redirection service from Maltapost in July, she has yet to receive any mail at her new address.

The postal service, however, dismissed the woman’s claims, saying that unless the names on the letters match those listed on the application for redirection – including any titles, middle names and abbreviations that might be used by a sender – the letters will not be forwarded.

The Mellieħa residents, Louisa Fabbrucci and her husband, Juergen Koehl applied to have their mail redirected to their daughter’s house in Germany from August as they have been spending more time with their daughter in Frankfurt.

“I really wanted to vote in these elections. I know it is just one vote and maybe it would not have made much of a difference but I was very disappointed that I could not cast my vote,” Fabbrucci told Times of Malta a day after the final result was announced. 

Where is the vote?

The couple said they applied for the redirection on July 27, paying all the required fees for their mail to be forwarded to the address in Germany from August 15.

By the end of August, the couple had realised their mail was still arriving at their Mellieħa home, despite the application, a copy of which was seen by Times of Malta, being filled in with the necessary details months before.

“On September 2, we contacted Maltapost and we received no acknowledgement, so we followed up on September 4, highlighting the fact we were waiting for the election document and we wanted to stop the redirection,” Koehl said.

Maltapost sent the couple two identical emails some days later, both stating simply: “Your email has been noted and forwarded to the officer in charge.”

Following up the e-mail with a call, Koehl was told that the redirection could not be stopped via e-mail and instead had to be done in person with certified copies of the ID cards or else through a Maltese embassy or consulate.

After days going back and forth, the couple established that, despite having included the German postcode in their application, this had not been inputted by Maltapost.

Moving forward, the couple plan on submitting a formal complaint to Maltapost, although they do not feel the need to take legal action.

On Maltapost claiming letters are only redirected as long as they have the name listed on the application, the couple said this wasn’t their case as they had letters with the right details that were still not sent to Germany.

The couple showed Times of Malta one of the letters with the proper details that was never redirected to Germany. 

A spokesperson for Maltapost said “the Redirection of Postal Articles Form and the supporting terms and conditions clearly state that the applicants need to include all the names, aliases and initials when completing the same application form”.

“A redirection of postal articles service is only effected on the names included in the completed  application form.  Any mail addressed to similar though differently written names, aliases and/or initials will not be redirected unless included in the application form in line with the given terms and conditions.”

How does Italy’s mail-in voting system work?

All Italian citizens over 18 are eligible to vote in general elections.

Those citizens who permanently live abroad must be in the public register that contains information on all Italians living abroad. Those not registered but who are abroad for at least three months before the election are also able to vote by post. They must submit forms alerting the authorities around a month before the elections. 

Italians abroad are then sent ballot papers through the mail at the registered foreign address. The ballots come in a special envelope that also includes instructions on sending back the vote to the relevant consulate.

This has to be sent in by a set date which is usually around two weeks before the actual general election. Those who do not receive their documents must also contact the authorities ahead of the election.

How did the Italians in Malta vote?

A breakdown of results outlining how Italians living in Malta voted showed almost 40 per cent gave their vote to coalition of right-wing parties led by Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi.

The trio, who lead Brothers of Italy, League and Forza Italia, won enough votes to secure a healthy majority in both houses of parliament, with Meloni’s party winning the most votes.

She is expected to be asked to form a new government some time next month.

The official data also showed almost 20 per cent voted for Giuseppe Conte’s Five Star Movement.

The centre-left coalition consisting of the Democratic Party, More Europe, Italian Left, the Greens and Civic Commitment received 32 per cent of the vote of Italians in Malta.

Of this, almost 17 per cent went to the Democratic Party.