MaltaMedia.com

Polling booths across the Maltese Islands closed on Saturday at 2200 CET for the European Parliament election as well as Local Council elections in 23 localities.

Ballot boxes will shortly start arriving at the Naxxar counting hall formerly know as the Trade Fair Grounds, for the first phase of the counting procedure. Proper sorting and counting will not start before noon Sunday, following instructions from the European Parliament since these elections are being held in all 27 EU member states.

The European Parliament Elections are being held for the second time since Malta joined the EU in 2004. Five MEPs have to be elected while the first runner-up will have observer status and if confirmed by the Lisbon Treaty, will become the 6th MEP for Malta.

The approximate turnout of voters by 1400 CET stood at 34% for the European Parliament Elections, a decrease of 4% over the 2004 MEP elections. Meanwhile the approximate turnout for the Local Councils election in 23 localities stood at 33%, according to official figures released by the Electoral Commission. In 2004, 35% of voters had cast their vote by 1400 CET, although the localities were different.

Final turnouts will be published as soon as they are issued by the Electoral Commission.

It was a calm day at all localities except for an incident which happened outside Carlo Diacono secondary school where a Nationalist Party supporter was slightly injured following a scuffle beween political party enthusiasts. A number of people were arrested, the police said. Partit Laburista (PL) condemned the incident without reservations.

MaltaMedia will provide special election coverage starting Saturday, with particular emphasis on Sunday until the official result for the European Parliament Elections is announced. It has already launched a special election blogosphere and will provide an SMS breaking news service on Vodafone number 5090 2060.