PN stays coy on ballot sheet concerns

The Nationalist Party has held back from publicly opposing plans to grant political parties uncontrolled access to ballot sheet scans, despite its representatives on the Electoral Commission voting against them.

According to proposals by the Electoral Commission, political parties will be given access to scans of all valid votes cast, along with their interpretation by the e-counting software set to be introduced during the May MEP elections.

The data can be held by the parties “for verification purposes” for a three-month period, after which it has to be deleted.

Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami raised concerns about the proposals in Parliament last month, saying it would make it possible for parties to search for a particular voting pattern agreed upon in advance with a voter from a specific address, given that ballot boxes are assigned to particular streets.

A veteran election observer told the Times of Malta last month that what was being proposed meant shifting from a system where votes were held under lock and key by the Electoral Commission to giving political parties unmonitored access to the scans.

Asked whether the PN would be backing in Parliament proposed amendments...