PN Takes Controversial Vote for Malta Prison in Court
The Nationalist Party will be bringing an injunction before the courts following the decision taken by the Electoral Commission not to accept their request to annul the vote held at the Kordin Correctional Facility (CCF). .
In the application, the PN will be asking the court to order the opening of sealed packages disclosing the list of persons in a CCF entitled to vote, as well as packages containing the voting documents of ‘those who voted.
The Party will also ask the court to order the Electoral Commission and the Registrars of Maltese and Gozitan courts to submit a list of persons whose names appear on the list of voters (LOPEV) and those who are disqualified from voting. ; and to submit the lists sent by the registrars to the courts to the Electoral Commission.
The PN will also come forward to demand that the court declare that the Chief Electoral Commissioner and the Electoral Commission have failed in their obligations and that they have failed to ensure that the information is received from the Maltese and Gozitan court registrars according to the obligation.
In the injunction, the PN is also demanding that the court ban the opening of the ballot box before the decision of the same court.
Following the call, PN Secretary General Michael Piccinino said:
“The highest priority in our country is to safeguard the electoral process as a whole,” he said, calling for the vote to be annulled.
The actions of the PN also provoked words from the PN Deputy Jason Azzopardi:
“I feel honored to have done my duty,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. Dozens of people in prison voted without having the right to do so. “
The decision to allow interdicted prisoners in Maltese prisons, including Darren It-Topo Debono, to vote in the general election had immediately raised alarm among the PN, which had called for the whole process in Kordin to be scrapped.
Piccinino has since lodged a complaint with the Electoral Commission after voting “dozens” of interdicted prisoners.
Prohibition refers to being legally disqualified from voting and given to certain prisoners who have committed particular crimes.
Prisoners voted Saturday in an early vote that has already sparked controversy over the decision for dementia patients to vote without the consent of family members or guardians.
Do you think the vote should be annulled?