Number of Candidates and Candidacies per Seat, 1921 - 2008
+------+-----------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+ | Year | Candidates | | | | | | | Undertaking: | | | | | | +-----------------+ Number of | Number |Number of|Candidacies| | |Single Two |Individuals| of | Seats | per Seat | | |Contest Contests |Contesting |Candidacies| | | +------+-----------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-----------+ | 1921 | 62 4 | 66 | 70 | 32 | 2.19 | | 1924 | 79 9 | 88 | 97 | 32 | 3.03 | | 1927 | 71 5 | 76 | 81 | 32 | 2.53 | | 1932 | 63 9 | 72 | 81 | 32 | 2.53 | | 1939 | 24 0 | 24 | 24 | 10 | 2.40 | | 1945 | 14 1 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 1.60 | | 1947 | 90 17 | 107 | 124 | 40 | 3.10 | | 1950 | 111 38 | 149 | 187 | 40 | 4.68 | | 1951 | 80 25 | 105 | 130 | 40 | 3.25 | | 1953 | 104 34 | 138 | 172 | 40 | 4.30 | | 1955 | 102 20 | 122 | 142 | 40 | 3.55 | | 1962 | 158 72 | 230 | 302 | 50 | 6.04 | | 1966 | 154 55 | 209 | 264 | 50 | 5.28 | | 1971 | 123 38 | 161 | 199 | 55 | 3.62 | | 1976 | 114 56 | 170 | 226 | 65 | 3.48 | | 1981 | 115 58 | 173 | 231 | 65 | 3.55 | | 1987 | 106 68 | 174 | 242 | 65 | 3.72 | | 1992 | 80 83 | 163 | 246 | 65 | 3.78 | | 1996 | 106 71 | 176 | 248 | 65 | 3.82 | | 1998 | 118 82 | 200 | 282 | 65 | 4.34 | | 2003 | 125 61 | 186 | 247 | 65 | 3.80 | | 2008 | 87 86 | 173 | 259 | 65 | 3.98 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Persistent Overnomination
As the above Table indicates, there has been a persistent tendency for Maltese political parties to nominate many more candidates than they can reasonably hope to elect.
The first Figure below portrays the general pattern and includes candidates from all parties, large and small. (Note that these Figures deal with candidacies, not candidates; thus, candidates contesting in two districts are counted both times.)
The next two Figures include only the two major parties. Of particular relevance are the elections since 1976, when effective two-party competition began and the number of electoral districts became fixed at 13.
In the six elections since 1976, the party balance in the various districts has been quite stable, as can be seen in this Table:
Thus, there have been one-seat shifts between the two parties in only four instances: the 1st, 7th and 10th Districts in 1992; and the 2nd District in 1998. Consequently, parties have been able to predict with reasonable certainty the number of seats they could win in each district in every election. Yet overnomination has remained the norm.
It is not clear why the major parties have persisted in presenting a large number of doomed candidacies. Perhaps it has been the desire to accomodate some party stalwarts. Perhaps it has been prompted by the belief that even a hapless candidate would garner some additional first-count votes.
A final Figure shows the number of candidacies, this time broken down by electoral district.
