[LIVE] Local Council elections 2012, follow results here

Additional reporting by Jurgen Balzan

Welcome to our live blog for the 2012 local councils elections!

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2:09pm The Mosta election remains too close to call as the seventh count comes to an end. Former PL councillor, Paul Agius who contested these elections as an independent has been eliminated and his 98 votes are being redistributed. Apparently a good number of his votes will be transferred to PN candidates.

1:08pm The counting agents are currently changing shift. The counting of votes will resume shortly.

1:01pm Alternattiva Demokratika are currently holding a press conference in the counting hall in Naxxar.

12:15pm The results of 22 localities have been finalised. See full results here.

11:58am With Joseph Muscat's press conference over, attention turns to the few localities were the counting has not ended with the party agents giving special attention to Mosta, Sliema and St Paul's Bay.

10:52am Apart from losing St Paul’s Bay, Qala and Safi, the PN suffered significant losses in its traditional strongholds, namely Sliema, Swieqi and St Julian’s. In St Julian's the PN gained 51.4%, down from 61.55%. Labour’s vote rose increased from 33.1% in 2008 to 43.9%. In Swieqi the PN retained its majority, however saw a decrease of almost 3%.

10:43am In Sliema, the PN gained around 61% of the vote and is likely to elect seven councillors, whilst the Labour Party gained 27% of the vote and is likely to elect three councillors and Alternattiva Demokratika gained around 8% of the vote and elected one councillor. The independent candidate, Melody Morgan-Busher won 3% of the vote but is not expected to win a seat.

10:40am The Opposition leader Joseph Muscat is expected to hold a press conference at the party's headquarters in Hamrun shortly.

10:35am In Gozo the PN has gained a majority in six out of the eight localities where an election was held. The PL overturned the PN's majority in Qala and retained its majority in Xaghra.

10:29am These are the total votes gained by the parties: PL: 61,749, PN: 46,409, AD: 1,797, Independents: 778.

10:25am The PN vote has diminshed by 11,499 when compared to the last round of elections held in the localiotes which voted yesterday.

10:15am Although Labour have secured a resounding victory it has only increased its shere of votes by 150 when compared to the last round of elections held in the 35 localites who went to the ballot yesterday.

9:59am More party agents and candidates are gathering around the Mosta and St Paul's Bay tables. The Mosta election is currently too close to call, with just 14 first count votes separating the two big parties at the first count and the majority will only be known when all elected councillors are confirmed.   

9:45am AD Swieqi candidate Solange Sant Furnier is about to be eliminated as the seventh count comes to an end.

9:11am AD Chairperson Michael Briguglio is elected on Sliema council. He tells MaltaToday that he is satisfied at his re-election after narrowly missing out in the last round of elections but expressed his dissapointment at AD's general showing. The only other Green Party still in the running is Ralph Cassar in Attard. 

9:02am The PN Sliema candidate, Julian Galea who was involved in the now infamous Labour-phobia recordings, has gained 233 votes in the first count and is unlikely to be re-elected.   

8:29am The secound count for Mosta has just commenced. In the counting hall, the party agents of both major parties are mainly focusing on Mosta. Most agents and candidates have returned home after a nail biting night.  

8:25am The counting process for Birgu, Balzan, Dingli, Floriana, Iklin, Gharghur Marsaxlokk, Kirkop, St Lucia and Safi is over.  Floriana remains the only locality with no overall majority and outgoing mayor Nigel Holland retains the position.  

7:20am Uncertainty over Mosta as just over 20 votes place the PL at an advantage over the PN.

6:57am High tensions in the counting hall after PL candidate Rosianne Cutajar was elected mayor of Qormi, replacing Jesmond Aquilina. Aquilina was seen and heard shouting on the other side of the counting hall as fellow Labour candidates and party agents tried to calm him down. A number of police officers also intervened to calm down Aquilina. The former mayor has now left the counting hall.

6:30am Second count for Paola had to be started again after the counting staff failed to mark a candidate as elected after he surpassed the quota and ended up inheriting the votes. Originally, the second count had started at 0:45am. The mistake was pointed out by some six Labour party agents who are all now standing behind the perspex double checking the count.

6:32am Alternattiva Demokratika are likely to have Michael Briguglio elected in Sliema. Its outgoing Attard councillor Ralph Cassar could also be re-elected but it is too early to call.  

5:41am Following the first count for Sliema, the PN gained 61% of the votes, the PL 27%, AD (Michael Briguglio) 8%, independent candidate Morgan-Busher Melody 3% and Ahjar candidate Chris Cassar 1%.

5:29am The Labour Party media confirms the PL gained 55% of all the votes cast on Saturday. Meanwhile, MaltaToday is informed that the PN gained 42% of the total votes.

5:11am Mosta PL candidate Alex Muscat garners 2,097 votes from first count. Mosta was at the heart of the PN's electoral campaign which focused on the internal crisis which had afflicted the Labour-led council. Opposition leader Joseph Muscat had carried out a complete revamp of the Mosta councillors and more than once admitted that the Mosta council had failed its residents.

3:26am Independent candidate Nigel Holland will most probably be reconfirmed Floriana mayor. Meanwhile, Hamrun PN candidate and PN President Paula Mifsud Bonnici was elected on the first count with 1,396 votes. The percentage of votes cast in Hamrun amounted to 62.32% for the PL and 37.68% for the PN.

3:10am PN candidate Stefan Cordina elected mayor of Attard with 1,659 votes.

2:39am According to the Labour Party media, the PN will secure a majority in the following localities: Attard, Balzan, Gharghur, Iklin, St Julian's, Swieqi, Ghajnsielem, Kercem, Munxar, Nadur, San Lawrenz and Zebbug (Gozo).

2:17am Another young mayor elected, this time Labour candidate Roderick Spiteri on Paola. Meanwhile, the battle between the PN and the PL rages on in Mosta, where the two parties are extremely close. St Julian's again elected a PN majority and Sliema is touted to go to the PN as well.

1:15am Uncertainty over St Julian's as PN and PL are very close. All eyes are now on Sliema and Mosta.

1:01am Meanwhile the PN has retained its traditional strongholds of Balzan, Attard, Iklin and Swieqi in Malta.

0:56am It looks like Marsa has elected Labour candidate Christopher Spiteri as its mayor.

0:41am By far the loudest cheer so far, St Paul's Bay - a traditonal PN stronghold - goes to Labour in the first count.

0:11am Landslide victory for Ian Borg who was reconfirmed as the mayor of Dingli with 1,450 votes. Borg got 66% of all votes cast.

11:45pm The PN is likely to have lost St Paul's Bay. Sources close to the PL say Labour might have won with a 52% majority. Former mayor Graziella Galea was seen with tears in her eyes while PL candidate Neville Gafa was seen receiving handshakes, slaps on the back and 'congratulations'. Meanwhile, the PN and PL are head to head in Floriana.

10:57pm Euphoria in front of the Safi area as first count places PL candidate Francis Callus as mayor.

10:43pm Meanwhile in Gozo, the San Lawrenz locality has confirmed PN candidate Anthony Formosa as mayor.

10:32pm As the first preference count is close to finalisation for the Safi locality, sources close to the Labour Party have confirmed that the Safi locality could have a Labour majority. Votes for both parties in the locality so far have been head to head. This could be the first win for the Safi locality after two elections in a row being won by the PN. PN incumbent Pietru Pawl Busuttil has been heavily pushed by the party for the elections. Busuttil also ended up in the news when he insisted that backbencher Franco Debono should be the one to resign when the latter had called for the resignation of the Prime Minister.

10:00pm First preference count has started for the localities of Safi and Isla. Balzan, Gharghur, Floriana and Birgu to follow soon. Tension slowly on the rise as all eyes are on the votes.

9:49pm Sorting of votes from the Safi locality has finished. Counting to start any minute. Meanwhile, the last bus from Sliema has arrived with the ballot boxes.

9:30pm Opening of ballot boxes and sorting of votes currently underway at a fast pace.

8:41pm Official approximate figures show that the lowest voter turnout was in the localities of St Paul's Bay and St Julian's with 35% and 37% respectively. The highest turnout was in the localities of Safi, 85% and Dingli, 81%.

8:25pm Initial reports show that the voter turnout for this year's elections was 59.2%

8:17pm As more buses carrying the ballot boxes slowly make it to Naxxar, the over 1,000 counting staff are already set waiting to start the counting. Full results are expected to be announced on Sunday, late afternoon.

7:50pm The first bus to reach the Naxxar Counting Centre was bus number 33 from the locality of Luqa. Voting closed at 7pm sharp. Until 1pm, only 28% of those who collected their voting document had voted.

7:00pm Welcome to our live blog! A weekend of vote-counting, electoral banter and perspex-banging is guaranteed for all in our rolling coverage of the 2012 local councils' elections.