Election 2022: Province on edge as vote counting begins in “the most important election of a generation”

Early indications are that turnout was roughly on a par with 2017 despite a relatively lacklustre campaign – taking place against a backdrop of spiralling heating costs and rising inflation.

One hour before the close of polling at 10pm, the Electoral Office said the turnout ranged from 47% in the South Antrim constituency up to 60% in West Belfast at that point.

At the last NI Assembly election in 2017 the average turnout was 64% when the polling stations closed.

A succession of pre-election surveys put Sinn Fein in pole position to become the largest party, with the DUP struggling to recover from a damaging leadership wrangle last year.

The DUP’s efforts to regain lost ground have been largely centred on attempts to have the post-Brexit NI Protocol scrapped – thereby removing the Irish Sea border and restoring Northern Ireland’s unfettered trading with GB.

Sinn Fein appears to have taken note of the strong pre-election polling and conducted what many commentators considered to be a relatively safe campaign, aimed at consolidating its position and avoiding any potential setbacks.

If Sinn Fein becomes the largest party, with the DUP in second place, it is not yet clear if Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s party will nominate a deputy first minister to serve alongside a Sinn Fein first minister in The Executive Office.

The first results are expected later today.