At a glance: how the ballots look

With the sorting of the first preferences nearing its end, the first impressions show that the new Parliament will have a few new faces, while some seasoned politicians face a struggle to be re-elected.

Although it is too early to judge, since the counting of each candidate's votes is yet to begin, the outcome in some districts seem to be quite clear. In some districts such as the second, fourth and seventh districts where Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat took the large majority of votes, it is difficult to predict who will be elected since it all depends on the second, third, fourth preferences and so on.

The quotas of each district will only be known at the end of the first count. As soon as the first count is over, subsequent counts will either see the votes of candidates who surpassed the quota will be distributed first, followed by the distribution of votes of eliminated candidates.

At a glance: how the ballots look.

1^st district - Three seats for Labour with Louis Grech, Deo Debattista and Jose Herrera as frontrunners. Former minister Mario de Marco will surely be elected with the other seat to be taken by either Claudio Grech, Jean Pierre Farrugia or Paula Mifsud Bonnici.

2^nd district - Joseph Muscat is set to surpass Eddie Fenech Adami's record tally in 2003 - the surplus means Helena Dalli, Stephan Bountempo, Yana Mintoff Bland and Joe Mizzi all in the running. The PN seat will be taken up by PN leader Lawrence Gonzi, with Stephen Spiteri the favourite to take up the seat if Gonzi renounces his seat on a double-win.

The three independent candidates, including this election's darling, Nazzarenu Bonnici 'Tal-Ajkla' fared badly.

3^rd district - One of four districts expected to return four Labour seats: Owen Bonnici, George Vella, Carmelo Abela and newcomers Kenneth Spiteri and Chris Fearne all in the running. The probable one PN seat will be taken by one of Frans Agius, Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Mario Galea.

4^th district - Again four seats for the PL, with leader Joseph Muscat scoring an impressive tally. The other three seats should be taken by Konrad Mizzi, Silvio Parnis, Gino Cauchi or Charles Mangion. The PN seat is expected to go to either Carm Mifsud Bonnici or Jason Azzopardi. Newcomer Mario Rizzo Naudi had a good performance.

5^th district - The Franco Debono effect could well result in an extra seat for Labour, with the four seats going to Karmenu Vella, Marlene Farrugia, Edward Scicluna, Joe Sammut or Joe Farrugia. The PN is likely to have Jason Azzopardi or new candidate Anthony Bezzina elected. Austin Gatt's right hand man, Manuel Delia and MEP David Casa, both contesting for the first time, failed to live up to expectations.

6^th district - Three PL candidates in the Qormi-Siggiewi-Luqa district, with Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Roderick Galdes and Charles Mangion clear favourites. The two PN seats should be taken up by one of Clyde Puli, Therese Comodini Cachia, Ryan Callus, Peter Micallef and David Casa.

7^th district - One of the surprises of the 2013 election: 27-year-old Dingli mayor Ian Borg who could end up with a greater tally than PN leader Lawrence Gonzi. With Labour set to elect three seats, the remaining two are expected to go to one of Godfrey Farrugia, Gavin Gulia, Chris Cilia and Charles Buhagiar.Apart from Gonzi, the other PN seat is expected to be taken by former health minister Joe Cassar.

8th district - MP Chris Cardona and newcomers Edward Zammit Louis and Edward Scicluna expected to make battle for the two Labour seats, with party veteran Joe Debono Grech set to miss out.

Two of the three PN seats are expected to be taken by Tonio Fenech and Beppe Fenech Adami, with Claudette Buttigieg and Michael Axiak expected to compete for the remaining seat.

9^th district - In his first election, criminal lawyer and PL candidate Manuel Mallia gained an impressive tally. He is set to be joined by either Leo Brincat or Michael Falzon.

PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil secured one of his party's three seats with George Pullicino and Robert Arrigo following. PN executive president is not one of the fronrunners but she might benefit from one of the elected members dropping his seat. 

10^th district - Labour seat is expected to go to Manuel Mallia, while party stalwart Evarist Bartolo, usually elected on a double constituency here, can expect to get the second seat, which would confirm Labour's inroads in the Nationalist stronghold, which had one of the lowest turnouts.

The other PN sets up for grabs will probably be taken by Robert Arrigo, George Pullicino, Karl Gouder or Francis Zammit Dimech.

AD chairman Michael Briguglio probably bettered the Green Party's previous result but fell short of the 2,000 votes he called for during the campaign.

11^th district - The two PL seats are set to be taken up by new deputy leader Louis Grech, Edward Zammit Louis or Charles Buhagiar. Labour's former secretary-general Jason Micallef is set to miss out on earning a seat in Parliament.

Simon Busuttil tallied a huge amount of votes, with David Agius, Edwin Vassallo, Michael Gonzi and Joe Cassar vying for the remaining seats. MP Cgharlo Bonnici could be one of the casualties of the election if he fails to be elected.

12^th district - Despite probably losing his seat on the tenth district, Evarist Bartolo is set to retain his seat on the twelfth district. If Labour manage to increase its seats to three, Bartolo is expected to be joined by divorce camp[aigner Deborah Scembri and Michael Farrugia.

The PN is set to elect two seats with Tonio Fenech, Michael Gonzi and Robert Cutajar in contention.

13^th district - Gozo is set to be a photo-finish result with Labour hoping to elect three eats for the first time in decades. Newcomer Franco Mercieca, Justyne Caruana and Anton Refalo set to be elected.

The two PN former ministers Chris said and Giovanna Debono are certainties, while Frederick Azzoprsi is set to lose his seat if the PN fail to retain the third seat.