Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545068
BALLOT papers will start be- ing sorted at 9am on Sunday to begin the counting process, Chief Electoral Commission- er Joseph Camilleri said on Monday as final preparations get under way at the Naxxar Counting Hall. Speaking to MaltaToday, Camilleri said that Malta's total eligible voters stand at 356,832, of whom 334,481 have collect- ed their ballot so far, leaving 22,333 still to be picked up. He also said that a total of 18,622 new voters are regis- tered for this election. Counting day Camilleri said party agents should be in position near the perspex screens by 8:45am on Sunday, with scanning and ver- ification of ballot papers be- ginning immediately after. The unofficial result will be known roughly between an hour and two hours after this process be- gins as the major parties start taking samples to project the result. Disputed ballots will be re- viewed by Electoral Commis- sion representatives alongside one representative from each party. A final vote count is expected to be handed over by the sys- tem at around 8pm on Sunday, after which both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Par- ty will have four hours to verify the results against their own systems before an official dec- laration is made. The official result will be is- sued by the Electoral Com- mission, though parties may release their own projections independently. Police and mil- itary will be present inside and outside the counting hall to provide security. Ballot boxes will begin ar- riving at the counting hall af- ter polls close on Saturday at 10pm, with all boxes expected to have arrived by 1am and all opened by 5am. Updated turn- out figures are expected to be released at around 4pm to 5pm on counting day. "The electoral process has been going very well and no problems are anticipated," Camilleri said. Eligible voters and candidates Malta's total eligible voters stand at 356,832, a net increase of 1,767 on the 2022 figure of 355,075. Of those, 18,620 are new vot- ers. A total of 282 candidatures have been filed across 163 vot- ing areas, with 852 ballot boxes in use. Over 6,000 assistants and counting staff have been de- ployed, not including internal staff, police, or military per- sonnel. As of 9am on Monday, 334,481 ballots had been collected na- tionally, leaving 22,300, or 6.3%, still to be picked up. By comparison, 14,073 ballots went uncollected in the 2022 election. Voting document collections Collection hours run Mon- day to Wednesday from 8am to 1pm and 3pm to 9pm, and on Thursday from 8am to 1pm and 3pm to midnight. Thursday midnight is the ab- solute deadline, after which no further voting documents will be issued. Those who lose their voting document may apply to the Electoral Commission for a special one to be issued, with a deadline of Wednesday at 9pm. Separate applications must be submitted to the Maltese and Gozitan commissions. Special voting arrangements Assistant Electoral Com- missioners are due to vote on Tuesday, with 6,810 eligible voters casting their ballots during early voting hours from 7am to 10pm. On Thursday, hospital pa- tients will be able to vote. Silent Day and billboard rules On Friday 29 May and Satur- day 30 May are both designated silent days, during which no political activity of any kind may take place. All billboards, banners, and posters will be removed once polls close on Saturday at 10pm, and any political mate- rial within 50 metres of a poll- ing station must be cleared. Voting day provisions On voting day, voters aged 75 and over will be given prece- dence at polling station queues throughout the day. Those aged between 60 and 75, as well as voters with a disability, will be given precedence be- tween 1pm and 5pm. Electronic devices are not permitted inside polling sta- tions. No photographs are al- lowed either. Camilleri called on the pub- lic to cooperate and asked that there be no unnecessary so- cialising at polling stations. If a voter makes a mistake on their ballot, they may ap- proach an assistant to have it cancelled and receive a re- placement. 6 NEWS JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt ELECTION 2026 6 NEWS 6 maltatoday | TUESDAY • 26 MAY 2026 NEWS Vote sorting to start at 9am on Sunday Inset: Chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph Camilleri (second from right) addressing the press at the Naxxar Counting Hall (Photo: Daniel Tihn/MaltaToday)