The counting of votes cast in Saturday's local council elections starts on Wednesday (today), with political parties focused on some battleground localities.

The localities have been divided into three groups, whose votes will be counted on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

Labour saw a sharp narrowing of its majority in the European Parliament elections, also held on Saturday. The counting of those votes took place on Sunday. 

Could the councils hand Labour its first electoral defeat in 20 years? 

PN sources say that is unlikely since the PL has traditionally fared better in local council elections in comparison to European elections.

471 council seats in 67 localities are up for grabs - 53 in Malta and 14 in Gozo.

Here are some things to look out for:  

1.  Independents 

Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manche, who ran as an independent in the EP elections and got 5,936 first-count votes, also ran for the Gżira council.  

He was elected to the Gzira council on the Labour ticket but resigned from the party in October last year after he clashed over environmental issues. Can he win re-election as an independent? Gzira council was Labour-led before Borg Manche's resignation, with Labour having had five of the nine council seats. 

Steve Żammit Lupi, a Żebbuġ (Malta) councillor, will be hoping for a second term on Wednesday, which is when that locality's ballots are counted. 

This time around, he ran together with two other independent candidates for the locality's council, including his mother, Lilibeth. 

Nationalist Party sources believe that the environmental activist's re-election is likely, and Lilibeth could also take a local council seat if she inherits enough votes from Steve. But at whose expense? The outgoing council had nine members - five Labour, three Nationalists, and Zammit Lupi as independent.  

Other independents to look out for are Kaylocke Buhagiar , who was elected to the Birkirkara council on the Labour Party's ticket in 2019, . Once dominated by the PN, Birkirkara council has seen a Labour majority since 2013.

Salvu Borg, was elected mayor of Fontana (Gozo) on the PN ticket five years ago but he has now run without the backing of a party.

Can an independent become mayor? 

The law that regulates local councils says that the office of mayor shall be held by the councillor who receives the highest number of first-count votes from the political party that obtained an absolute majority of seats in the council.  

But if no party gets a majority, it is the council itself that appoints a mayor among its ranks.  

In a split council, independents are king-makers and prime contenders for the role. Floriana's Nigel Holland, who is running this year, served as mayor for several legislatures when the PL and PN had an equal number of seats in that locality.    

2.  PN leaning localities 

The PN suffered its worst-ever results in the last local council elections when Labour won 47,000 more votes than the PN.  

The PN also lost more localities that had traditionally voted blue, such as Siġġiewi and Valletta.  

The PN won Valletta in 2013, 2008, 2002 and 1999 but narrowly lost it in the last election.  

Labour won 252 more votes than the PN in that election.  

Siġġiewi has a similar history. Five years ago, the PL won by a whisker and only had 70 more votes than the PN. That victory was Labour's first ever in Siġġiewi. 

There was controversy during the run-up to the election when 99 people changed their ID card to a new government housing block in the locality even though they hadn’t moved in yet. The PN cried foul and the case went to court, which ordered those involved to vote in their original place of residence. 

 3.  Battlegrounds  

As vote counting takes off, many eyes will be on the ballots from places like Mosta, Mellieħa, St Paul's Bay, Siġġiewi and San Ġwann. All were PN-controlled in the past but were more recently run by Labour administrations. That could change once more by the end of the week. 

Mosta was not far from the headlines over the past month, particularly owing to a major project to revamp the square and adjoining streets. The works left many residents and businesses fuming due to delays and traffic diversions.

The town's mayor, Chris Grech, also came under fire following a decision to cut down mature trees near the rotunda church in November.  

The PN placed considerable focus on Mosta during the campaign and it was the venue of one of Bernard Grech's last addresses as the campaign closed. Mosta, incidentally, is Grech's hometown.  

One of the thinnest majorities of the 2019 local council elections was in San Ġwann. Whether there will be a similarly close result on Thursday, when the counting takes place, stands to be seen, but PL mayor Trevor Fenech's popularity among residents could be a factor.  

Some PL-leaning localities are also worth watching. Mqabba, for example, had a PN majority in 2008 before two strong Labour wins in 2013 and 2019.    

4.    Strongholds 

Labour strongholds like Paola, Żejtun or the three Cottonera cities will almost certainly vote overwhelmingly red. However, PN leader Grech said his party aims to gain more votes and possibly a council seat in those localities.  

One place the PN could make significant gains is Santa Luċija. PN councillor-led initiatives to oppose a mega block in the locality might aid the PN's result on Friday.  

 5.    Teenage candidates 

Two 16-year-olds are running on the PL ticket, both for the Fgura council. Izaak Catania De Giovanni - PL MP's Katya De Giovanni's son, and Andre Mizzi, Malta's youngest local council candidate.  

For the PN, Nina Briffa, running for the Qrendi council, is 17 years old while Gabriel Borg Fernando is running in St Julian's.  

For the first time, candidates under 18 can become mayors or deputy mayors.  

Will voters look kindly on them?