An Electoral Commission agent checks a voting document yesterday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

It was not a general election but the tension was still palpable when the loudspeaker gave the go-ahead for votes to be turned face up.

Party agents stood silently behind the Perspex, scrutinising every vote as the sorting process for Malta’s third European Parliament election began.

Vote sorting yesterday had to start at noon as mandated by the EU so results in member states would not influence voters across the continent.

The hum of whispered numbers increased as the minutes ticked away with Labour agents looking happier.

After 40 minutes, when the first sample of 50 votes from each ballot box was counted, victory was clear and PL agents started banging on the Perspex to chants of “Joseph, Joseph”.

Minutes later, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat claimed victory on One TV, expressing surprise at the margin of difference between the major parties.

At the Naxxar counting hall it was evident that even PN functionaries could not believe the size of the defeat: no different from last year’s record loss in the general election.

Party forecasts – the final first count vote was not out by the time of going to print – showed Labour consolidated the gains it made in every electoral district last year.

Labour strengthened its lead in Gozo, even if it was likely to have obtained a relative majority and ended up neck-and-neck with the PN in the 12th district that includes St Paul’s Bay and Mellieħa.

Both are traditionally PN-leaning, indicating the PL’s reach extended beyond its southern backbone.

Agents banging on Perspex to chants of ‘Joseph, Joseph’

Labour posted strong absolute majorities in the first seven districts and forced the PN into a relative majority in the eighth district, which includes Birkirkara.

The PN’s strongholds remained the ninth (includes Msida, Swieqi, San Ġwann), 10th (includes Sliema, Pembroke and St Julian’s) and 11th (includes Attard, Balzan and Mosta) districts. In each of these, it was forecast to obtain absolute majorities.

The PN was expected to gain the largest share of the vote in the Sliema district (54 per cent), which was a far cry from the majorities Labour secured in the south. In this district, the PL was forecast to capture 38 per cent of the vote.

In the second (includes Cottonera), third (includes Marsascala and Żejtun), fourth (includes Paola and Tarxien) and fifth (includes the airport villages, Birżebbuġa and Marsaxlokk) districts, the PL obtained absolute majorities in excess of 63 per cent. In the Cottonera area, it was expected to win almost 70 per cent of the vote.

The result also confirmed that the PN continued to be less appealing for voters in the south, with the party expected to fail in obtaining at least 30 per cent of the vote in the second, third, fourth and fifth districts.

In terms of candidates, Labour’s Alfred Sant was the clear runaway followed by the PN’s Roberta Metsola.

Although the vote transfer process was expected to drag on throughout today and tomorrow, the two likely candidates to get elected after Dr Sant and Dr Metsola were Miriam Dalli for the PL and PN incumbent David Casa.

Labour’s third seat is likely to be a close fight between Marlene Mizzi, Joseph Cuschieri and Gozitan Clint Camilleri. The PN’s third seat, if it does get it, is expected to be a hard-fought battle between Ray Bugeja, Francis Zammit Dimech, Therese Comodini Cachia, Norman Vella and Stefano Mallia.