Let Maltese living abroad vote where they live

Malta paid almost €3 million to fly 1,530 people home to vote in the last General Election. That works out at nearly €1,950 a passenger, according to the Electoral Commission’s own report on the 2026 general election.

The flights cost more than a third of what the Electoral Commission spent running the whole election (€8.2 million). Yet those passengers made up only about 0.5% of the votes cast.

Momentum notes that this is the most expensive way to allow Maltese abroad to vote and the least fair. It only works for voters who live near a KM Malta Airlines route and can take time off to fly home. Anyone in Nairobi, Catanzaro, Barcelona, or Marseille, or anyone who simply cannot travel that week, loses the opportunity to vote.

Most EU countries allow citizens living abroad to vote by post, at an embassy, or online. According to the European Parliament’s own research service, Malta is one of only four EU states whose citizens cannot vote from abroad even in European elections.

Since before the last General Election, Momentum has been pushing for the introduction of remote voting for Maltese citizens living abroad, including postal ballots, voting at embassies and consulates, and secure online voting. These options should be in place well before the next general election.

Subsidised flights have long served the PL and PN as a tool of patronage. Ending the practice would save taxpayers millions of euros at every election and finally give every Maltese citizen an equal right to vote, wherever they live.

“Your right to vote should not depend on whether KM Airlines flies to your city. Malta has embassies and consulates in every major city where Maltese live and work. Use them. Let people vote by post or online. Let’s spend the money where we need it most, not on plane tickets,” says Dr. Alastair Farrugia, a member of Momentum’s Executive Committee.

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