John Culatto
RESIDENTS of Gibraltar who want to know who will govern them for the next four years on Friday morning will not even have to switch on their televisions to find out the winner of the October 12 election.
The British Overseas Territory has created an online updating system that allows residents and anyone all over the world to follow the progress of the two parties in real-time.
Voters will be going to the poll all day Thursday to vote in the unpredictable election which will see the GSLP/Liberals vie for office with the GSD.
All 17 seats in the parliament are up for grabs in the general election.
Latest polls indicate that both political groupings have almost an equal chance of winning the 2023 election.
Every polling station will have three computers staffed by civil servants that will input each vote throughout the night.
The data will then be displayed throughout the night onto large screens throughout the night and into the morning.
Numbers of votes cast for each party will then be relayed to the John Mackintosh Hall where parliamentarians and the press traditionally hang out during the night.
Civil servants will then relay the results onto the parliament.gi website where people can follow the developing situation at home or on their phones.
Individual parties and even UK accountancy firm EY have given their stamp of approval for the new system.
It will allow results to be published much faster – by as early as 4am – but still allow a recount of manual votes if the result is too tight.
How voting works
The Gibraltar elections consist of only one constituency with the top 17 candidates getting into parliament.
The party with most candidates gets to come into office.
Each voter gets the chance to elect ten candidates which can either be in a bloc of a whole party or individual candidates as they see fit.
Because of this system it is not so important how much percentage of the total vote each party gets at least nine candidates get into parliament.
Polls are already predicting that the winning party could only govern with nine MPs as opposed to ten.
This would leave eight MPs in Opposition and could give leave room for an MP to swap sides on a matter of conscience if the case arises.
All residents of Gibraltar for at least six months can register to vote in the elections as long as they are 18 or over on the day it is held.
READ MORE:
- Who will win Gibraltar election? Two polls predict different governments on October 13
- New candidates stand up to reckoning as poll predicts knife-edge Gibraltar election results
- ELECTION 2023: All three parties bring in fresh blood as Gibraltar election campaigning starts in earnest
