Northern Ireland voters have their say in Assembly elections

Hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland voted yesterday to elect the next 108-member Northern Ireland Assembly.

While more than 1.2 million people were entitled to vote in the North’s 18 six-seater constituencies, the general expectation was that the turnout would be less than 60 per cent.

The election campaign has been quite low-key, which has led to speculation that the turnout could be in the mid-50s in percentage terms, or possibly even lower. In the previous Assembly election, in 2011, turnout was 56 per cent.

In last year’s Westminster election there was a turnout in the North of 58 per cent. The last election there to have had a turnout of more than 60 per cent was the Assembly election of 2007, at 63 per cent.

Powersharing deal

There was considerable interest in 2007 because that was the first election after the late

Ian Paisley

and Sinn Féin president

Gerry Adams

signed up to their historical powersharing deal. There has been much less public interest this time.

The DUP has nonetheless been prompting unionists to come out to vote by warning that a failure to do so could result in Sinn Féin winning most seats and therefore the right to the post of first minister.

In the outgoing Assembly, the DUP had 38 seats, compared with Sinn Féin's 29. DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster has warned, however, that unionist "complacency" could hand the advantage to Sinn Féin.

The Ulster Unionist Party is aiming to at least hold the 16 seats it won in 2011, while the SDLP, under new leader Colum Eastwood, is hoping it can withstand threats from Sinn Féin and People Before Profit to maintain its 2011 total of 14 seats. The Alliance Party had eight seats in the last Assembly, a number leader David Ford is aiming to increase.

Gains

Independents and parties such as

Traditional Unionist Voice

, Ukip, the

Progressive Unionist Party

, the

Greens

and People Before Profit are hoping to make gains.

Counting of votes is taking place today at eight count centres throughout Northern Ireland. The biggest count is at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast, where the votes for four Belfast constituencies are being calculated.

The results should start coming in by this afternoon or evening. Barring recounts, the expectation is that the outcome in all 108 seats will be known by tomorrow evening.

After the election it will be unclear for a period how the next Northern Executive will be constituted. There will be two weeks of negotiation as the parties try to devise a programme of government for a five-year term.

The DUP and Sinn Féin have stated that they intend to form and be the main drivers of the next Executive. The Alliance Party, if it wins sufficient seats, has also indicated that it is disposed to being part of the next administration.

Both the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party have held out the possibility that they could be part of an official opposition if they reject the programme for government.