Malta's electoral commission said 47 per cent of the electorate had voted in the country's referendum on EU membership up until 1 p.m., according to figures released this afternoon.
Chief electoral officer Ms Carmel Degrabiele said earlier that voting was running smoothly across the Mediterranean archipelago.
"Everything is going smoothly, except for a few small teething problems at the start,W which caused some polling stations to open slightly late.
Malta is the first of 10 candidate countries for membership of the European Union from eastern and southern Europe to vote on the issue.
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Almost 300,000 people, three-quarters of the population, were eligible to vote in today's referendum.
Polling stations are due to close at 9 p.m. GMT.
AFP