Malta early parliamentary elections 2022: ODIHR election expert team final report

The 2022 early parliamentary elections in Malta were organized efficiently and professionally, with stakeholders expressing confidence in most stages of the process, though its transparency was diminished by limited access to Electoral Commission activities, the lack of regulations allowing for election observation and limited oversight of and access to information on party and campaign financing. Concerns identified also include the use of public resources by the governing party.

These are some of the main conclusions of the final report on the 26 March elections published  by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The report offers 21 recommendations to improve the conduct of elections and to support efforts to bring them further in line with OSCE commitments, as well as other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.

Key recommendations include:

• Ensuring access for all stakeholders to Electoral Commission meetings and publishing the minutes of all meetings;

• Removing all restrictions on voting rights on the basis of any kind of disability;

• Ensuring that voting limitations imposed on convicted citizens are proportional to the crime committed;

• Enhancing the legal powers and resources of the Electoral Commission to carry out pro-active and efficient supervision, investigation and enforcement of political finance regulations;

• Ensuring the public broadcaster’s editorial independence through a transparent, competitive management selection process and legal safeguards for the broadcaster’s financial sustainability and autonomy;

• Guaranteeing access of citizen and international observers to all stages of the electoral process.

ODIHR deployed an Election Expert Team for these elections on 15 March 2022. All 57 countries across the OSCE region have formally committed to follow up promptly on ODIHR’s election assessments and recommendations.