Malta: MOTE – My Opinion My Vote

The Equal Partners Foundation, together with the University of Malta, has launchedthe programme MOTE – My Opinion My Vote, a project which aims to encouragepeople with learning disabilities to exercise their political rights. One specific aim ofMOTE is an investigation on the voting rights of persons with intellectual impairment.Many persons with intellectual disability in Malta and Europe currently do not exercisetheir right to vote. In Malta, they can be interdicted, having their right to vote takenaway. If they choose to contest it, they are subject to an interview assessing theirpolitical knowledge. The Equal Partners Foundation commented that those who hadthe right to vote exercised it – but that at present there were no structures in place tohelp persons with intellectual disability to vote independently.