Two PN candidates have received an equal number of votes at the end of a casual election to elect an MP to succeed former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

At the end of the vote counting process on the 12th district, former St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea and her former deputy mayor David Thake both received 1,877 votes.

PN sources told Lovin Malta that this is the first time a casual election has resulted in a draw in Maltese electoral history. Officials are now recounting the votes in case there was human error but there is confusion at the counting hall about what the next step would be if the recount still shows a draw.

A second casual election in the ninth district is also taking place today to succeed MP Marthese Portelli, and it seems that this will be won by either businessman Ivan Bartolo or Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat.