As ballot boxes continue to be opened inside the counting hall, MEP Daniel Attard has broken down one of the most important early stages of Malta’s electoral process: the sample count.
Speaking to Lovin Malta from inside the hall, Attard described the exercise as the election’s “final survey”, but one based on actual votes rather than polling data.
“Many surveys were carried out during the campaign,” he explained. “This is the official survey, not based on phone calls, but on the votes themselves.”
The process sees party agents recording only first-preference votes as ballot boxes are opened. Every time a voter places a number one next to a party, agents mark it down on tally sheets.
According to Attard, this provides the first reliable indication of how the election is shaping up.
Party agents also know which locality each ballot box comes from, allowing them to build a detailed picture of voting patterns across different parts of Malta and Gozo.
Importantly, the focus at this stage is not on individual candidates but on parties.
“The government is determined by first-preference votes,” Attard explained. “The party that gets the most number ones will be the party that forms government.”
While the official count is still underway, the sample count remains one of the most closely watched moments of election day, offering the first glimpse of the result long before the final figures are published.