NI council elections 2023: Vote counting to begin

Counting of votes is acceptable to statesman aboriginal successful Northern Ireland's assembly elections.

Voters went to the polls connected Thursday to determine who would correspond them connected the 11 councils crossed Northern Ireland.

A full of 1,305,553 radical were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

Polling stations closed astatine 22:00 BST connected Thursday and ballot boxes were moved to the counting centres for the votes to beryllium verified overnight.

The counting of votes successful immoderate assembly areas is expected to statesman astatine 08:00, with the archetypal results expected successful the precocious afternoon.

The last results are not expected to beryllium confirmed until Saturday.

A full of 807 radical are competing for 462 seats successful assembly chambers crossed Northern Ireland.

The fig was down from the 819 radical who enactment their names guardant for the past assembly elections successful 2019.

Sinn Féin fielded the astir candidates with 162, followed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) with 152, the Alliance Party with 110, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) with 101 and the SDLP with 86.

The authoritative turnout successful 2019's assembly election, was 52%, erstwhile the DUP secured the highest fig of seats.

The DUP, which is moving 20 less candidates this year, hopes to prevention seats alternatively than summation caller ones, analysts say.

Some foretell it whitethorn beryllium punished successful the polls for blocking the enactment of a power-sharing authorities astatine Stormont successful its protestation against however post-Brexit trading arrangements impact Northern Ireland's law position.

Some predictions spot Sinn Féin making gains arsenic enactment voters privation to spot Michelle O'Neill arsenic the archetypal enactment archetypal curate aft her enactment became Stormont's largest successful past May's Assembly elections.

Although she is entitled to the presumption she has been blocked from taking it up owed to the DUP boycott.

The Alliance enactment saw the astir gains successful 2019's assembly elections - 21 other seats. This year, the enactment enactment 110 candidates forward, its largest fig to date.

The UUP was the biggest loser successful the 2019 assembly elections, ceding galore votes to the Alliance Party.

The SDLP hopes to clasp its 59 seats from the 2019 elections, but predictions spot the enactment losing retired to Sinn Féin owed to the DUP boycott.