One third of those who were eligible to vote in last Saturday’s local council elections did not do so.
Turnout in these elections is high in Malta when compared to turnout in other countries, but it is much lower than that in a general election when over 90 per cent of the voters in this country turn out to vote.
When local council elections were linked to other polls – such as the referendum on European Union membership and the election for Malta’s representatives in the European Parliament – voter turnout was much higher and closer to the trend in national elections.
On their own, local councils elections have always attracted just two-thirds or thereabouts of the voting population.
There are various reasons why people choose not to exercise their right to vote in local council elections.
First, some people just could not be bothered who is elected to represent them on the locality’s council. Whether it is a Nationalist or Labour-led council does not make that much of a difference, these people seem to think. There is only so much that local councils can do.
Second, there are many residents who believe that their local councils have not done much for the town or village – or else they are not making a decent effort to do so. Local councils might have improved a few roads and embellished a town’s mains areas, but at the end of the day, there are councils that have not delivered over successive terms.
If people feel that their council has not lived up to their expectations and see that the list of candidates for the election is largely made up of councillors who are not up to standard, they might choose not to vote because they know that the situation will not change.
Third, many people also believe that local councils have become another “mini-Malta”, in the sense that partisan politics in the locality make it nearly impossible for things to change. Whether it is a Nationalist or Labour majority, the “opposition” puts the spokes in the wheels and does its utmost to put the “majority” councillors in bad light.
Minorities in councils have every interest to slow down the work of the council and to lead residents into believing that little or nothing is being done. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the presence of political parties in local councils does not help. If councillors did not represent political parties, local councils would be able to achieve more than they have to date.
Local issues that have become political footballs hinder any progress that would be of benefit to the residents and it does little to encourage people to turn up at the polling booth on election day.
Fourth, residents believe that by not voting they are sending a message to the political parties or the government. Some people would never dream of voting for the “opposing party” or a third party, not even on a local council level, but they still want to punish the political party they traditionally support and show the party they are not happy with the way things are being administered.
Although their concerns are local, in many cases the people’s decision not to vote is based on national issues.
Generally speaking, and the results of the past elections are proof of this, there have been many Nationalist supporters who did not cast their vote to push their party to make changes which they deem necessary both for the country to move forward and for their own personal life to improve.
Whether these non-voters will do the same and send the same message in a general election is debatable, and many tend to think that this is highly unlikely.