He said the distribution of votes in houses,

which started around one month before polling day, used to involve around 200 to 300 police officers a day.

The police also had to man the polling booths as well as the counting hall at Ta’ Qali, Mr Rizzo said.

In spite of this, other police duties had to carry on. “Until now, we have managed to do this by prioritising our resources,” he said.

Mr Rizzo said the police corps did a good job during the run-up to the EP elections.

“The police were just as involved as in a general election,” he said.

Mr Rizzo said this had been “a civil election where everything ran smoothly. Everybody was happy with the way members of the Police Corps had carried out their duties during these elections.”

There had only been a single isolated incident, he said, but the culprit was traced and the police took immediate action.

“This shows that the Maltese people are becomingmore mature,” Mr Rizzo said.

He thanked the general secretaries of the three political parties for their co-operation during the EP elections.