Deborah Schembri seeking change of name on ballot paper

Labour candidate Deborah Schembri has lost a bid in court to have her name on the ballot paper shown as Deborah Schembri and not as Deborah Schembri-Tabone. She will appeal. During the proceedings in court, Dr Schembri explained that she had been married to Joseph Tabone and used to carry the name Deborah Schembri-Tabone. The marriage ended in divorce and a court ordered the Public Registry to change her name to Deborah Schembri. Dr Schembri said that  she was still shown as Deborah Schembri-Tabone on the electoral register. In her nomination for the general election she had entered her name as Schembri Deborah (tad-divorzju) and wanted that to appear on the ballot papers. However the Electoral Commission had decided to list her as Schembri-Tabone Deborah (tad-divorzju). Her requests to delete the ‘Tabone’ were rejected. In its reply, the Electoral Commission said that according to law and as was the practice, the names of election candidates were reproduced as they were shown on the electoral register. Dr Schembri had had ample time to correct the entry on the electoral register, before the register was published or in the allocated time after, but she failed to do so. The law...