The electronic counting of votes may be possible by 2019, if the General Elections (Amendment) Bill goes through parliament, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has said.

Speaking in parliament during the second reading of the bill, Minister for Justice Owen Bonnici said that amendments in the law are needed for this novel vote-counting process to be implemented.

"No one is saying that in 2019 people are going to vote electronically," said Bonnici, reading the recommendations by the Electoral Commission, "not the vote itself will be electronic, but rather how the votes are counted (electronically), as opposed to being counted by hand".

The minister said that this amendment will "facilitate the current process which is lengthy," adding that it is important for voters and political parties to retain trust in the voting system.

Other amendments the bill is proposing include technical adjustments with regards to conforming terms and deadlines of the General Elections Act and the Local Councils Act, the possibility for Advance Voters and Electoral Commissioners registered under Gozo to vote in Gozo, to officially include the definition of Polling Place Officers, and to make it possible for inmates at the Cordin facility to vote from within the facility, amongst others.