The local council electoral register for 2019 has revealed some truths about the Maltese voter base, with at least two towns, namely St Paul’s Bay and St Julian’s, now featuring more foreign voters than Maltese voters.

A list of people entitled to vote for the election of local councillors in St Paul’s Bay, released this month, indicates that from the 26,297 registered voters in the town, 50.8% of voters (13,397) are of foreign nationality, and 49.2% of voters (13,000) are of Maltese nationality.

When it comes to the St Julian’s local council, the discrepancy is even larger, with 52.6% of voters (6,496) being of foreign nationality, and 47.4% of voters (5,864) being of Maltese nationality, out of a total of 12,360.

As per EU law, European Union nationals are automatically entitled to vote in the local council elections of any EU country in which they reside; for example, a Maltese person living in Germany has the right to vote in the local council elections.

In total, there are 80,331 EU nationals who live in Malta and have the right to vote.

One teenage St Julian’s local council candidate has flagged the change in his locality ahead of next month’s elections

“I find it quite shocking that there are more foreigners than Maltese living in two Maltese towns already, and the trend is growing in other towns as well,” Sean Gauci, a St Julian’s local council hopeful representing the Nationalist Party, told Lovin Malta.

“Whatever angle you look at it, becoming a minority in your own country is quite shocking. It will mean degradation of our identity, language, culture and values,” he continued, while placing the blame at the feet of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

“This is in no way racist, because I’m not shunning a specific race, just a concern that being a minority in your own country has consequences too”

He also pointed out that the number of foreigners included doesn’t feature any third country nationals living in the localities.

“And the statistics show only those foreigners who are eligible to vote, so if you take into consideration those who aren’t eligible, the Maltese minority only gets bigger, as only EU residents can vote,” he ended. “In 40 years time, what will happen?”

Do you think this change in demographics will affect election results?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]