Malta has been in overdrive since February. The Libya crisis ignited a long chain of events that pre-empted the current polling campaign. First we saw streams of refugees passing through Malta to escape the fighting in Libya, and then we saw daring rescue missions being mounted from Malta by the UK’s SAS elite units.

Malta was propelled into the limelight and did its utmost to help people get back home after harrowing experiences in the Maghreb. But no sooner had the dust settled, pardon the pun, than we were dragged into a long drawn out campaign on divorce.

This newspaper is still covered by the period of reflection, or period of silence, as newspapers will be hitting the stands before polling opens. To that effect, we will respect the law and not comment on the actual issue at stake. That is now for the people to decide, as they have decided on other matters many times before.

At the last count, there were just over 21,000 votes that had been collected, translating into some 6% of the electorate. This means that turnout will be high, and will probably be in the region of 80% or so.

This is a new experience for the people of Malta. We are not voting for the next government, or to join the European Union, or even to vote our representatives into the European Parliament. This is a vote about a moral issue, one which will affect individuals and families.

We have already stated that this was a poor campaign in terms of material offered as information given to the general public. Social networks have also emerged as being, perhaps, the best barometer one could have in the modern information technology age. While the period of reflection for the media is still in vigore, citizens far and wide have been flooding the comments section of Facebook. One thing is clear, since the Facebook revolution, people may no longer be kept quiet. One must understand that the period of reflection is not a state ‘punishment’, but is designed to allow the voter to calm down, digest all that has been said and cast his or her vote serenely.

But the landscape has now altered drastically. People still comment, people still talk. News, comment and opinion, of Joe and Jane Bloggs has become, perhaps the staple of the modern world. It is not quite street corner gossip, but more of an intelligent debate between common citizens, away from the official camps.

The Facebook revolution has allowed a freedom that people could never have imagined in the time before it was ‘invented’. Governments around the world need to recognise the fact that social networking sites are the new ground for grassroots critique – ignore it at your peril. Tunisia and Egypt’s revolutions were sparked off and co-ordinated in this manner. Equally, it provides a forum for discussion and criticism for your ordinary citizen.

Come what may, today is polling day. The traditional media will analyse the results on the day and on the Monday in terms of print. Whatever the result may be, we can rest assured that campaigning and polling will never be the same again.