PN leadership candidates Alex Borg and Adrian Delia cast their ballots Saturday on the last day of voting, with the party announcing that two-thirds of members had cast their vote by 1pm.

The two leadership hopefuls issued their final appeals to voters earlier today as the race to decide the next Opposition leader draws to a close.

A result on the election results - should a clear winner emerge - are expected late this evening, with voting closing at 7pm in Malta and 5pm in Gozo.

The 30-year-old Borg has campaigned on a platform of youth and renewal, while Delia, a 56-year-old former PN leader, has trumpeted his battle-hardened experience.

Current leader Bernard Grech, PN deputy leader Alex Perici Calascione, former Opposition leader Lawrence Gonzi and PN secretary general Charles Bonello are among frontline Nationalists to have cast their vote in the morning.

Around four-fifths of PN voters - some 20,600 members - had cast their ballot in early voting earlier this week.

The leadership election was on the horizon from back in June, when Bernard Grech announced his intention to step down as party leader.

His resignation came two days after a damning survey by MaltaToday, which suggested that PN support had nosedived, with Grech's trust in freefall.