The General Elections Act : legal safeguards against electoral fraud

Abstract

Prior to the General Elections Act of 1991 the electoral process in Malta was governed by four different acts of legislation : 1) The Constitution which regulated (and still regulates) the qualification and disqualification of voters, the setting up of the Electoral Commission, the method of drawing up of electoral divisions and the basic principles governing elections. 2) The Electoral (voting, Method of Election and Registration of voters) Ordinance 1939 which established the number of electoral divisions and set out how the electoral register should be compiled. 3) The Electoral (Polling) Ordinance 1939 which provided how elections should be conducted and determined what constitutes a corrupt practice. 4) The Voting Regulations 1939 which determined the method of counting votes cast at an election. The above mentioned Regulations and Ordinances originated in the late thirties and in essence were still unchanged till 1991 when the present General Elections Act, (principally intended to cater for the evolution of political parties, the introduction of modern technology in the way that an election is conducted and the ever increasing needs for legal guarantees against electoral fraud,) replaced them.