Introductory:
"How Malta Votes"
A brief, introductory account of the functioning of the Maltese electoral system.
The Rules of the Game:
The Election-related Constitutional Provisions
The text of the various constitutional provisions which deal specifically with the electoral system.The Election Law
This complete text of the General Elections Act is a fairly long document containing a wealth of regulations about every aspect of Maltese elections. It includes the various amendments of 1996 and several of the Schedules attached to the Act.The Vote-Counting Mechanics of STV in Malta
The "Handbook for Calculators" was prepared for the people who counted the votes in 1996. It gives a full explanation of the counting process, plus provisions on maintaining the security and accuracy of the whole process. (For comparison, consult the vote counting regulations for STV elections to the Australian Senate.)* A few photographs illustrating the Maltese vote-counting process were published by the Malta Department of Information.* A handbook on the conduct of STV elections by Robert Newland and Frank Britton, entitled How To Conduct an Election By the Single Transferable Vote was prepared for the British Electoral Reform Society and placed on the Web. It does not specifically deal with Maltese rules for STV elections, however.
"Who Needs Transfer Votes?"
A speculative note on the significance and necessity of using transfer votes in Malta's elections under STV.
Electoral Commission and Election Districts:
The Electoral Commission
A list of the membership of the Electoral Commission from 1921 to 2004. Its powers and responsibilities are laid down in the constitutional and legal documents cited above.Election District Maps
The maps, prepared by the Electoral Commission, shows the boundaries of the 13 election districts in 2005 and before.Localities Comprising the Election Districts
(a) The various towns and villages and the electoral districts of which they were part, 1921 - 2005, arranged by locality and historically and (b) the 2005 assignment of localities to their respective electoral district, arranged by district.Successive Ballot Counts
A tabulation, for all elections and districts, of the number of counts that were required to determine all winning candidacies.
Computer Programs For the Counting Process
There are by now a number of computer programs for conducting STV elections. A commerical version from a European company will be used in national elections in the Republic of Ireland.A somewhat limited program, which can be used for demonstration and research purposes and which has a well-designed interface, has been made available on the site of the Electoral Reform Society of Britain. Jeff O'Neill has provided another source of STV election software that accomodates several STV variants.
Some other computer programs are listed and described on another site under the heading "Tools for Multiwinner Tallies."
Click here for a brief account of the use of computerized vote tallying in an STV election, in some Irish constituencies in 2003.