u/brian_21179

I’m a Maltese citizen living in London since 2003, and I’m honestly fed up with how voting works for us abroad.

It’s 2026 and the only way we can vote in a general election is by physically flying back to Malta. Elections get announced with about 4 weeks’ notice, flights come out shortly after, and then it’s a mad scramble - calling call centres, hoping you can find something, and basically being expected to drop your entire life at a moment’s notice.

Yes, flights are subsidised. But that’s not a solution …. it’s a workaround for an outdated system.

This year I’m not going. I’ve got other travel already booked and paid for, and I’m not losing money and rearranging everything just to make a rushed trip back for a single day, especially considering I literally got back to London yesterday since I had planned this prior to the election being announced.

What really gets me is this: if Malta is willing to spend huge amounts putting on extra flights, why is it apparently impossible to introduce proxy voting, postal voting, or even voting at embassies like countless other countries?

Are we seriously saying that in 2026, the only “secure” way to vote is to physically show up on the island?

It feels like zero consideration is given to the reality that thousands of Maltese live and work abroad with actual responsibilities and commitments.

Genuinely curious as to how many of you abroad just give up on voting because of this? And do you think anything will ever change?

I’ll add, this is not a dig at either one of the parties necessarily. This has been happening since day dot on both regimes, the only thing that has changed is that subsidised flight prices have gone from about 30€ when I first travelled, 20 something years ago to the 90€ they are applying this time round. And again, I’m not even having a dig about the cost, it’s the principles stated above of the outdated system in place.