An interesting and intriguing point was raised a few days ago when the government launched the Gozo Regional Development Strategy.
Well-known Gozitan photographer Daniel Cilia, speaking from the floor, highlighted the fact that the number of Maltese people who have the right to vote in Gozo is rising dramatically, which means that Maltese voters are having a strong influence on which candidates are elected.
When this media house contacted Cilia to expand on the issue, he said that from figures available there are at least 6,000 Maltese voters registered on the Gozo district, which is roughly the population of the capital, Victoria.
This has happened for one simple reason. Many Maltese people have bought property in Gozo, and this leads them to visit the sister island regularly, in particular during the weekends. By changing their address to their Gozo residence, they are entitled to cheaper rates when they use the ferry to cross over. But by changing their address on their ID card means that they would be eligible to vote in Gozo, not in the district where they have their main residence.
As such, the “official” population in Gozo continues to rise, and it has continued to do so for some decades. As a result of this, changes had to be made to the Electoral Law to settle the anomaly.
It happened before the 2008 election, when it was realised that the electoral district of Gozo was larger than the five per cent allowance that is enabled under the law. All electoral districts, in voting numbers, cannot be five per cent smaller or higher than the average. But, before the 2008 election, it was realised that the number of voters eligible to vote in Gozo (13th district) was more than five per cent higher. At first, the idea was to pull Ghajnsielem out of the Gozo district and link it with the 12th district (Mellieha). Without Ghajnsielem voters, Gozo would have remained within the five per cent threshold. But protests erupted and it was later decided that the whole of Gozo, in the 2008 election and subsequent polls, would remain a single district irrespective of the number of eligible voters.
Since then, Gozo has always been the largest electoral district in terms of eligible voters, and the last time round, in 2022, it was the only one to have more than 30,000 eligible voters.
The argument that Cilia made is that having so many Maltese voters on the Gozo district is not in the best interests of the island. They hardly know the candidates contesting, he contended.
His suggestion is that, rather than change their address on the ID card, Maltese people who own property in Gozo present their water and energy bills when they are buying tickets to cross the ferry. In this way, they would still be entitled to cheaper rates, but would then not vote in Gozo. Instead, they would vote in the district where they have the main residence.
We understand Cilia’s point, and expand it to the local council elections too. Through the system we gave at the moment, there are 6,000 voters who cannot vote in the locality where they have their main residence, but have a right to vote in a Gozitan locality where they have their secondary residence.
Cilia’s point should not go unheeded.