Squeaker in Malta

Squeaker in Malta, by Fruits and Votes:

Hard to believe, but I missed until now that there was an election over the weekend in Malta, one of the rare cases of single transferable vote (STV). It was a squeaker. The results posted at Times of Malta show the incumbent Nationalists with 49.34% of the vote (I assume that means first-preference votes) and the Labor party with 48.79%. I do not see a page with seats, but Adam Carr is reporting that the current seat count reverses the plurality, with Labor ahead..

Malta has some add-on seats that are given to the party with the vote plurality (i.e. first-preference votes) if it has not won a plurality of seats in the district counts. Lots of detail (that I do not have time to wade through) at the Times of Malta special page on the election. There is an item on the “crucial role of the president.” Yes, even those “mostly ceremonial” presidents in parliamentary systems can have crucial roles around election time.

Update: See Bancki’s comment regarding preference votes and the add-on seats, which will keep Nationalists in power...

Malta: STV With Some Twists