The percentage of Maltese who think it is highly important to vote in national elections has plummeted in the six months since the last election, with Malta seeing the largest decline in the EU, a survey has found.
The figure was just 64 per cent in October and November, a drop of 17 percentage points since April and May, according to six-monthly Eurostat surveys carried out during those periods.
Malta saw a similar decline in interest in European elections.
Malta’s 64 per cent is far lower than several countries. The majority of respondents in each country see voting in national elections as being of high importance to them, the survey report says.
Proportions vary from 95 per cent in Sweden, 91 per cent in Denmark and 87 per cent in the Netherlands to 49 per cent in Belgium and 50 per cent in both Bulgaria and Romania.
Compared to April-May 2022, respondents are now more likely to place high importance on voting in national elections in Latvia (70 per cent, +8 percentage points), the Netherlands (87 per cent, +4 pp), Greece (74 per cent, +3 pp) and Austria (68 per cent, +3 pp).
The proportion has declined in 17 countries, “most notably Malta”, the report says. Bulgaria, Slovenia and Belgium also saw significant drops.
Malta traditionally has very high turnouts in national elections. The Labour Party retained power by a landslide in the general election last year but turnout was down to 85.5 per cent from figures that usually exceed 90 per cent.
This was still an extraordinary number when compared to most other democracies around the world.
In 2020, the US registered a turnout of 66.8 per cent, while in the last UK election in 2019 only 67.3 per cent of eligible voters participated.
However, Labour’s electoral dominance and Nationalist Party infighting might have contributed to an increase in local voter apathy, observed Jean Claude Cachia, a university senior lecturer and author of a forthcoming book The Europeanisation of Party Politics in Malta.
“People do not see the PN as an alternative while a Labour victory seems inevitable,” he said.
European elections
When asked how important respondents felt it was to vote in European elections, Maltese respondents registered the second largest drop in the union. Only 43 per cent placed high importance on the issue – a reduction of 25 percentage points since the previous survey.
"The survey also found that those in a more comfortable financial position were the most likely to place high importance on national and EU voting"
Conversely, Malta led the union in showing interest in next year’s European elections, with 71 per cent being interested.
Cachia said European elections have historically had a low turnout, with voters abstaining either to send a message of disapproval to the government or because they believe MEPs will not make a difference.
Some do not vote out of a belief that the EU overintervenes in issues like the rule of law, or hunting, he added. Cachia, who lectures at the European Studies Institute, said that issues like immigration and tax harmonisation might entice people to cast their EU election ballots to defend the national interest.
When asked whether they believe their voice counts in the country, 81 per cent of Maltese respondents said they did.
The survey also found that those in a more comfortable financial position were the most likely to place high importance on national and EU voting.
This tendency was also demonstrated with older respondents, those who had attained higher levels of education and those in managerial positions.
The Eurobarometer is a public opinion survey performed by the European Commission to learn more about social and political issues across the bloc. From October 12 to November 3 last year, 507 Maltese citizens were interviewed face-to-face for the study. In total, 26,431 citizens took part across the entire EU.