In Malta when two parties win parliamentary representation in a given general election, additional members may be elected in accordance with the Constitution to ensure that the party with the majority of first preference votes secures a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. The additional seats are given to the remaining unelected candidates of the winning party irrespective of the district contested. Candidates to the general elections may contest no more than two districts. In case they are elected from two districts, they will choose one district that they will represent after the elections. The seats vacated by these candidates will be filled by “casual elections” prior to the first session of the House of Representatives. The votes initially cast for the member to be replaced (because of resignation or death) are allocated to the member on the basis of the preferences expressed. If this cannot be done fruitfully (as no unelected candidate of that constituency could possibly obtain the required number of preference votes), a member is ‘co-opted’ by a resolution of the House of Representatives on the motion of the leader of the political party of the former member. All electoral constituencies are allocated five seats. In order to ensure balance in the overall proportion of seats of the parties, one other member from an electoral constituency might occasionally be chosen, so that in that case and in that case only, that constituency elects six deputies.