David Thake and Ivan Bartolo have won seats in Parliament on the twelfth and ninth district respectively after a casual election was held on Tuesday.
They replace former PN leader Simon Busuttil and Marthese Portelli respectively after they both resigned last month.
Thake's win came after some tension, after he obtained an identical amount of votes -1,877 - to Graziella Galea, just 73 votes shorts of the quota needed to be elected. However, it was Thake who eventually won the seat on the basis of having obtained more votes on the first count than Galea after Simon Busuttil's votes were redistributed.
Bartolo's win was more straightforward - he exceeded the quota needed for election after the sixth count, having obtained 2,206 votes. Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat was closest to Bartolo, ending the sixth count with 1,486 votes - still some 500 votes short of the required quota.
With the first count of the candidates tallied up, Thake held a 331 vote lead over Galea. But, after the elimination of Edward Torpiano (55) and Simone Aquilina (170), it was Sam Abela's turn to be eliminated - and it was here that matters heated up, as Galea caught up with Thake and they both ended on 1,877 votes.
A recount took place, producing the same result, and contestations about dubious votes were turned down by the commission, meaning that the number of votes remained the same for both candidates.
The recount was on the last count of votes.
There was then some argument on who should take the seat. Graziella Galea had obtained 284 first count votes as against Thake's 126 in 2017, but it is today's count that is taken into consideration in the circumstances, and Thake obtained more second preferences than Galea.
Galea was therefore eliminated, and Thake was elected with 3,646 votes.
Ivan Bartolo is currently leading the way in the race for the parliamentary seat vacated by Marthese Portelli.
Five candidates contested the casual election to replace Simon Busuttil, while another seven are aiming to take Marthese Portelli’s place. Both Nationalist MPs resigned last month, with Busuttil taking up a post with the European People's Party.
The candidates contesting on the 12th district (Busuttil) are: Sam Abela, Simone Aquilina, Graziella Galea, David Thake, and Edward Torpiano.
The quota for election on that district is of 1,950 votes, but neither managed to reach that quota.
Seven nominations meanwhile were received for the casual election on the ninth district (Portelli): Alan Abela Wadge, Graziella Attard Previ, Ivan Bartolo, Roselyn Borg Knight, Albert Buttigieg, Noel Muscat, and Charles Selvaggi.
The first count has revealed a bit of a closer picture than in the 12th district, but Ivan Bartolo holds a 253 vote lead over Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat. Bartolo has 1,069 votes to Muscat's 816 votes - but with the quota set at 1,927 votes, the way in which the votes are inherited from one candidate to the other will play a key role in the final outcome of the casual election on this district.
Only 171 votes separated the remaining five candidates: St. Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg has 488 votes, Roselyn Borg Knight has 403, Graziella Attard Previ has 384, Alan Abela Wadge has 341, and Charles Selvaggi has 307.
Having the lowest votes, Selvaggi was first to be eliminated - and the manner in which his vote have been distributed have added a further degree of closeness to the results, with Bartolo's lead over Muscat now being slashed to 166 votes. Abela Wadge also successfully overtook Attard Previ by 2 votes - meaning that the latter will be the next to be eliminated.
The third count saw Bartolo marginally increase his lead over Muscat to 191 votes - however at 1,179 votes he is still some way short of the quota to be elected. Abela Wadge meanwhile inherited over 100 votes to take his tally to 544, overtaking and eliminating Roselyn Borg Knight. Buttigieg currently has 550 votes - still some way off from Muscat.
Buttigieg was next to be eliminated, leaving Abela Wadge remaining on 857 votes, Muscat on 1,328 and Bartolo on 1,534. The redistribution of Abela Wadge's votes however ensured that Bartolo would comfortably pass the required quota, and hence be elected as an MP on the ninth district.
With the first count complete, candidates will now begin to be eliminated, with their votes being transferred to other candidates according to the numerical preference which the voter indicated. The process continued until one candidate reached the required quota, or until there are no more candidates to be eliminated.
You can follow the results live through our interactive graphs below, which will be updated as the counts progress.