Malta's electoral history has been largely bipolar since independence with only the Nationalist Party and Malta Labour Party gaining seats in the House of Representatives.

This page provides the facts and figures of how Malta voted and how Parliament was split in every election since 1966.

The electoral laws remained largely unchanged throughout this period with the exception of a very important change introduced before 1987 to avoid results such as 1981's win by the Labour Party.

 

 

How the people voted

1966 PN 47.9 MLP 43.1 Other 10.0	1971 MLP 50.8 PN 48.1
1976 MLP 51.5 PN 48.5	1981+ PN 50.9 MLP 49.1
1987 * PN 50.9 MLP 48.9 Other 0.2	1992 PN 51.8 MLP 46.5 Other 1.7 #
1996 MLP 50.7 PN 47.8 Other 1.5 #	1998 PN 51.8 MLP 47.0 Other 1.2 #

+ In 1981 the MLP won the election with the majority of seats, even though the PN got the majority of votes.

*The Constitution was amended in early 1987 so that the party with the absolute majority of votes wins the government. This is still valid in 2003.

# Include Alternattiva Demokratika

Source: www.maltadata.com

Elected Members of Parliament in figures

1966 Partit Nazzjonalista 28 Malta Labour Party 22	1971 Malta Labour Party (1) 29 Partit Nazzjonalista 26
1976 Malta Labour Party 34 Partit Nazzjonalista 31	1981 Partit Nazzjonalista 31 Malta Labour Party 34
1987 Partit Nazzjonalista (2) 34 Malta Labour Party (3) 33 Independent (3) 01	1992 Partit Nazzjonalista 34 Malta Labour Party (4) 29 Independent (4) 02
1996 Malta Labour Party (2) 35 Partit Nazzjonalista 34	1998 Partit Nazzjonalista 35 Malta Labour Party 30

NOTES:

1. Following the move of one MP from the Partit Nazzjonalista to the Malta Labour Party.

2. Following the addition of four seats to give the Party winning a plurality of votes a parliamentary majority.

3. From October 1989 as one MP was expelled from the Malta Labour Party but retained his seat independently.

4. From May 1995 as two Malta Labour Party MPs resigned the Party Whip

Source: www.doi.gov.mt