The time it took to sort and count the votes in this election is ample proof that the vote counting system – at least in the European Parliamentary election – is not an efficient one.

The rest of the European Union has resumed a business as usual attitude, even Gordon Brown has managed to put down a rebellion in the time it has taken us to elect just six candidates. It is, quite simply put, ridiculous.

The process to transfer votes from one candidate to another took far too long and one wonders quite how it is taking forever and a day to sort out 248,169 votes between six people.

The Labour Party’s secretary general Jason Micallef has gone on the record saying that the process is tedious and is causing tension. This was demonstrated in the early hours of Tuesday morning as scuffles broke out over a dubious vote. To be frank, the long and laborious task of standing for hours behind Perspex screens – coupled of course with snatched reheated junk food meals and sleep deprivation are a recipe for disaster, fraying even the mildest of tempers.

At 2pm on Tuesday, electoral commission staff was into their 24th count and by this time it was becoming amply clear that the process was simply going to drag on and on. It is understood that the two main parties are pushing for change. It is simply ludicrous to have a situation where people are away from home for days on end simply to count a pile of votes, or to monitor them for sake of transparency and a correct result.

Equally, we cannot have a situation where the whole country has ground to a standstill for three days – the people, while good natured enough during the campaign, have been sickened by the long-drawn out counting process and ensuing inability to get on with normal everyday life.

When one puts this into the context of the international slowdown, the need for urgent reform becomes even more apparent. On the one hand, we are lucky because we have braced well against the storm and avoided the bulk of the recession so far – and on the other, we are creating our own stagnation by having this ridiculous Jurassic process for counting votes.

The parties will not stick their necks out far enough to propose electronic voting – both are too conservative for that and will worry that people will not know which buttons to press for their preferred vote (excuse the pun). But there is definitely a case for electronic voting, at least in MEP elections. The cross party voting which has been very evident in this election has made the current workings ridiculously complex and time consuming whereas a simple electronic voting system could have allowed for a simple algorithm input and subsequent quick result.

Coming from a country where allowing the Small Nations’ Games athletes to vote early was deemed a huge step forward, it is very doubtful that this solution will even be looked at, let alone formulated and implemented. What is sure though, is that the parties must take the lead in pushing for this reform as the Electoral Commission – while thorough and transparent – is an ageing dinosaur.

While electronic (or even postal or telephone or internet voting) are still light years away, we are sure that enough pressure will be exerted to at least review the current workings of the system. A whole team of people to count a handful of votes for one candidate is simply not good enough. An algorithm can surely be devised whereby a minimum threshold of first hand votes can be established, allowing for a swift clear-up of at least the minnows.

Whatever the solution found, it must surely be tested in the next local council elections.