The Nationalist Party is taking court action after the Electoral Commission refused the PN's request to annul the early voting that was held at the Corradino Correctional Facility and is asking for a new election there to take place.

The request was made after it was revealed that prisoners who were ineligible to vote were allowed to cast their ballot in the general election.

Darren Debono, known as 'it-Topo', is one of these prisoners. Debono is a convicted bank robber, having pleaded guilty to his involvement in the failed 2010 HSBC heist. He was jailed for 10 and a half years after admitting his involvement in the HSBC heist.

Other prisoners such as drug trafficker Pierre Cremona - who was sentenced to seven years and a half in prison for trafficking heroin in 2016 - was also allowed to vote during the early voting.

The Maltese constitution states that prisoners who have been sentenced to more than 12 months in prison for a crime should not be allowed to vote.

Following the decision by the Electoral Commission not to annul the votes at the facility, the PN is asking the courts to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunction.

An application being filed by the PN is asking the court to order the opening of the sealed packages containing the list of persons entitled to vote at the Corradino Correctional Facility, as well as the packages that contain the voting documents of those persons who voted at the same facility.

It will ask the court to order the Electoral Commission and the Court Registrars of the Maltese and Gozitan courts to present a list of those whose name is found on the List of Electors and who are disqualified from voting, and also to provide the lists passed on from the Courts' Registrars to the Electoral Commission.

The party will also ask the court to declare that the Principle Electoral Commissioner and the Electoral Commission failed to fulfil their obligations and failed to ensure that the information they received from the Maltese and Gozitan Court Registrars is in accordance with their obligations. It is asking the courts to annul the voting that took place at the Corradino Correctional Facility and to order a new election at the same facility with an emended List of Electors that excludes those who are disqualified from voting.

In its request for a warrant of prohibitory injunction, the PN is also asking the court not to allow the opening of a ballot box containing the votes before there is a decision taken by the courts.

PN Secretary General Michael Piccinino said that the PN will not allow anything obstruct the democratic electoral process on Saturday and that this is why it has asked the court to address this problem with urgency.