President extends vote card deadline

The Electoral Commission has been given more time to distribute the voting documents which, by law, should be done within 19 days of the official announcement of the election date. Through a notice in The Government Gazette, the President extended the deadline by a further 22 days so that the police can continue with the door-to-door distribution without breaching the provisions of the General Elections Act. The Times reported on January 15 that the Electoral Commission had to scrap 500,000 documents and start the printing process afresh because they bore the signature of the previous Chief Electoral Commissioner. The incumbent, Saviour Gauci, yesterday confirmed that the President had authorised an extension but denied that the delay was caused by the printing error. “The extension has nothing to do with the printing mistake. It is just due to a longer electoral campaign, which gives us more time to deliver the documents at a less stressful pace,” he said. The notice to extend the distribution period appeared in The Government Gazette on January 15. According to the General Elections Act, “within 19 days of the publication of the writ (January 7), the (Electoral) Commission shall...