ADPD is expected to double its total votes since the last general election but will contest the result in court next week, as Malta’s electoral system means its increased vote tally will not translate into a parliamentary seat.

Green party chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said on Sunday that based on data available from the 125,000 votes processed so far, the party is projecting 4,500 to 5,000 votes, which is almost double the 2,564 votes it received in the 2017 election and similar to what it had received in 2013.

That vote tally will likely translate to anything between 1.5% and 1.7% of the total vote. 

The ADPD chairperson was speaking at a press conference held at the Naxxar counting hall, hours after Labour announced a third consecutive electoral landslide.  

Cacopardo said the party’s best showing was on the 9th and 12th districts.

The party fielded Cacopardo, Mina Tolu and Mark Zerafa in the 9th district and Luke Caruana and Sandra Gauci in the 12th. 

Despite that positive result, the party intends to take its case to court – as it had warned it would do right at the start of the general election campaign.

Cacopardo said the constitutional provisions of proportionality of seats when compared to votes should be amended so that the 5,000 votes received by ADPD translate into a seat in parliament.

"These votes cannot be ignored," he said. 

Cacopardo said the party was disappointed with the way it was treated by the Electoral Commission, which did not give it access to voting data as it gave the two major parties. This goes to show the control these parties have on the country's institutions, he said. 

He said the party only has one terminal and the information being made available was "very limited".

The party has also had problems with its people accessing the counting hall, despite them being granted access passes.