Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522096
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2024 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This would represent 10 points more than five years ago, however, the figure was being questioned by the two major political parties yester- day evening. The higher turnout figure is the result of a change in meth- odology used by the Electoral Commission. It included early voting in the figures, something not done five years ago, and calculat- ed the turnout on the basis of those who collected their vot- ing document instead of all eli- gible voters. This means that the commis- sion ignored from its popula- tion base the 37,000 voters in the EP election and the 110,000 voters in the local council elec- tions who did not even bother to pick up their voting docu- ment. MaltaToday calculates that the 2pm turnout was closer to that of five years ago. Similarly, the local council elections turnout at 2pm ac- cording to the commission stood at 41.1%, including early voters. Once again, this figure is in- flated because the commission did not base it on all eligible voters. The adjusted figures suggest that the Vitals hospitals cor- ruption case and the arraign- ment of former prime minis- ter Joseph Muscat did little to challenge voter apathy. It remains to be seen how those who were motivated to vote, cast their ballot. An indication of the general result is expected around an hour or so after vote scanning starts since political parties will be logging the number one votes and building a nation- wide sample. However, it will be a longer slog until the late hours of Sun- day to know who all six elected MEPs will be. Alex Agius Saliba for the La- bour Party and Roberta Met- sola for the Nationalist Party are expected to be elected on the first count, both being the frontrunners of their respec- tive parties. A tougher battle will be ex- pected to elect the rest of the MEPs. ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci Lydia Abela President Myriam Spiteri Debono After Vitals scandal, voters head