Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545155
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2026 ELECTION 2026 ANAYLSIS Results PL % PL votes PN % PN votes Gap PN-PL Others % Others votes Invalid % Invalid votes Turnout % Turnout voters 2003 47.5 134092 51.8 146172 12080 0.7 1949 1 2909 95.7 285122 2008 48.8 141888 49.3 143468 1580 1.9 5443 1.2 3415 93.3 294214 2013 54.8 167533 43.3 132426 35107 1.9 5597 1.3 4044 93 309600 2017 55 170976 43.7 135696 35280 1.3 3993 1.3 4031 92.1 314696 2022 55.1 162707 41.7 123233 39474 3.2 9308 2.9 8802 85.6 304050 gaps to supermajorities alongside historic peaks in both third-party support and intentional ballot spoilage collapsed to 3,993 votes (1.3%) in 2017 in a polarising election focused on corruption allega- tions related to the ownership of a secret Panama company called Egrant. However, 2022 saw a resurgence of third parties, albeit a fragment- ed one. Support for alternative parties more than doubled to 9,308 votes (3.2%), marking the highest third-party presence re- corded in post 1966 general elec- tions. An even more explicit act of vot- er protest is visible in the num- ber of invalid votes. From 2003 to 2017, invalid ballots remained remarkably flat, creeping slow- ly from 2,909 to just over 4,000. In 2022, this metric exploded to 8,802 invalid votes, accounting for 2.9% of all cast ballots. When combining the 9,308 third-party votes with the 8,802 invalid ballots, over 18,000 active voters deliberately walked into a polling booth and refused to back either major party. Coupled with the tens of thousands who stayed home entirely, the dataset proves that Malta's era of supermajorities is deeply tied to a historic surge in voter alienation. Malta has historically been celebrated for maintaining some of the highest democratic participation rates globally, but the dataset uncovers a steady erosion of this civic norm that reached a critical breaking point in 2022 EVERY SUNDAY AT 8.45PM ON