VALLETTA, Malta 

Maltese voters headed to polls for snap general election on Saturday.

Ballot stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500GMT) and will close at 10 p.m. (0800GMT).

The country's Electoral Commission announced that nearly half of 341,856 eligible voters had cast their votes by 2 p.m. (1200GMT).

Vote-counting will start on early Sunday.

The election was due in March 2018, but called after the country was hit by corruption claims against the ruling Labor Party (PL) by opposition Nationalist Party (PN).

*Reporting by Baris Seckin; Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet