Updated | The current state of play: 32 MPs elected so far

Thirty-two candidates have been elected to parliament, with 38 of 65 seats up for grabs having so far been allocated.

The vote counting process has entered its second day at the Naxxar Counting Hall, with several candidates still eagerly waiting to know whether they will make it into parliament for the next legislature.

All the available seats in the first, sixth and thirteenth districts have been secured, with the fourth soon to follow suit. Regularly updated counting data can be accessed here and a list of confirmed MPs, here.

Twenty-three seats have gone to the Labour Party, while the Nationalist Party has so far secured 15.

Among those who will be losing their seat are Paula Mifsud Bonnici (PN), Carm Mifsud Bonnici (PN), Luciano Busuttil (PL), Stefan Buontempo (PL), Franco Mercieca (PL), Godfrey Farrugia (PD), while Etienne Grech (PL), Claudette Buttigieg (PN) and Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) are all unlikely to make it. There are five new MPs all from Labour: Aaron Farrugia, Byron Camilleri, Robert Abela, Clint Camilleri and Alex Muscat. 

Newly elected MP Aaron Farrugia

First district

On the first electoral district, Jose Herrera and Mario De Marco were both elected on the first count with 4,630 and 4,721 votes respectively. The two will be joined by Labour candidates Deo Debattista (5734) and Aaron Farrugia (4207).

Second district
The Labour Party looks set to win four of five seats on this district with Joseph Muscat securing his seat on the first count. Minister Helena Dalli was elected with 4,062 votes on the 22nd count, while transport minister Joe Mizzi was elected shortly after, following the 23rd count.

Chris Fearne: The only non-leader who was elected on two districts at the first count

Nationalist Party candidate Stephen Spiteri was elected on the first count with 4,671 votes. Out of the remaining PN candidates Josie Muscat is in lead but will not be elected.

Third district
Health minister Chris Fearne was elected on the first count, and home affairs minister Carmelo Abela looks set to follow him back to Parliament. Newcomer Silvio Grixti so far has 2,681 votes (count 20) which puts him some 500 votes ahead of minister Owen Bonnici.

Newcomer Byron Camilleri, elected on the fourth district (Photo: Twitter)

On the PN side, Mario Galea has a healthy lead, followed by the already-elected Stephen Spiteri. Should the PN win two seats in this district, then Spiteri could choose to give up his seat, paving the way for former minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Fourth district
Ministers Chris Fearne (5405) and Konrad Mizzi (4968) were both elected on the first count, while Silvio Parnis was elected on the third count with 4448 votes. Newcomer Byron Camilleri also made it into parliament in the early hours of the morning, however he has not yet accumulated the necessary number of votes and counting continues.

The PN elected Jason Azzopardi on the 21st count with a total of 4,450 votes.

Fifth district
This has been one of the slowest districts in terms of counting due to the time-consuming process of redistributing Joseph Muscat’s 9,000 excess votes.

Out of the remaining PL candidates, former Illum editor Julia Farrugia Portelli (2,990) was initially in the lead however as counting progressed she was surpassed by Owen Bonnici (3,028) and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi (3,024).

Robert Abela, son of former President George Abela, was elected on the 6th district

All three would be elected if Muscat were to choose to give up his fifth district seat.

PN Candidate Toni Bezzina (3,279) is far ahead of the remaining PN candidates on the district. It seems unlikely that the PN will manage to win a second seat, however counting could continue on the district for a while. The second best PN performer was Herman Schiavone with 1,427 votes, by the 18th count.  

Sixth district
Labour MP Silvio Schembri was re-elected on the first count with 3,950 votes, while newcomer Robert Abela – son of president emeritus George Abela – was elected with 4,222 votes on the 14th count. Roderick Galdes was also elected with 3,375 votes on the 17th count.

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PN MP Ryan Callus (4,570) was elected on the 11th count, while Clyde Puli was elected on the 16th count.

Seventh district
The young parliamentary secretary Ian Borg swept to victory on the first count, while finance minister Edward Scicluna followed suit on the second count. Silvio Schembri is on course to clinch PL’s third seat but, since he has already been elected, it could go to either Charles Azzopardi, former PN MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, or former PN mayor Ian Castaldi Paris.

Beppe Fenech Adami is in the lead for the PN with 3,442 votes as of the 21st count, followed by Jean Pierre Debono with 3,077 votes.

Eighth district

Therese Comodini Cachia could soon swap the European Parliament for the Maltese one

Edward Scicluna (3,968) and PL deputy leader Chris Cardona (3,677) are a few votes short of winning a seat on the district, although Scicluna could give up his seat, allowing for the re-election of tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis (3,280).

Outgoing PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami swept to victory on the first count with 6,484 votes. MEP Therese Comodini Cachia follows with 2,495, while David Agius had accumulated 2,492 votes by the end of count 19.

Ninth district

Labour MP Clifton Grima is in the lead on this district with 2,724 votes by the end of the 22nd round. He is followed by Michael Falzon (2,200), Edward Zammit Lewis (2,149) and Manuel Mallia (1,982).

PN MP Kristy Debono was elected on the first count with 4022 votes, while Robert Arrigo (3,056) and Marthese Portelli (2,080) are both doing well. Ivan Bartolo has the fourth highest number of PN votes at 1,567.

Tenth district
At the end of the 27th round of counting, Labour MPs Michael Falzon (2,873), Evarist Bartolo (3,648) and Manuel Mallia (2,359) are the remaining PL candidates on the district

For the PN, Robert Arrigo was elected comfortably on the first count with 4,793 votes, however a nail-biting contest has developed between George Pullicino (1,561), Karl Gouder (1,872) and Marlene Farrugia (1,939). Newcomer Nick Refalo has 1,721 votes so far.

Farrugia was initially trailing behind Gouder, however she has continued to gain significant numbers of votes from eliminated PN candidates.

Eleventh district
Anthony Agius Decelis (3711) is in the lead for Labour, followed by Alex Muscat (3,374) and Labour Party deputy leader Chris Cardona (3,246).

Outgoing PN leader Simon Busuttil swept to victory on this district with 11,266 first count votes.  He will be joined by the PN’s former whip David Agius who was elected after the 16th count, and Edwin Vassallo who was elected after 22 rounds of vote counting.

Twelfth district
Minister Michael Farrugia has been elected for the Labour Party on this district, together with education minister Evarist Bartolo. The two are followed by Deboarh Schembri, who had 3,410 votes by the 26th count in the early hours of the morning.

Simon Busuttil has also been elected on this district, with MP Robert Cutajar having accumulated 3,429 votes. Claudette Buttigieg has the third largest number of votes on the PN side, with a total of 2,575 votes.

Thirteenth district
Gozo minister Anton Refalo was re-elected on the first count and will be joined by parliamentary secretary Justyne Caruana and newcomer Clint Camilleri, with Franco Mercieca losing his parliamentary seat. Chris Said and Marthese Portelli have both been elected for the PN.