Politics

Voters head for polls to elect north's 18 MPs

The north's 619 polling stations will open today at 7 am and close at 10 pm. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press
The north's 619 polling stations will open today at 7 am and close at 10 pm. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press The north's 619 polling stations will open today at 7 am and close at 10 pm. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

VOTERS across the north go to the polls today for the fourth time in little over a year.

The past 13 months have been a particularly busy time politically, with today's general election coming on the heels of two Stormont polls and last June's EU referendum.

Up to 1.24 million people will cast their vote today in Northern Ireland, choosing a single representative in each of the region's 18 Westminster constituencies in a 'first past the post' ballot.

The north's 619 polling stations will all open at 7 am and close at 10pm. Any voter who arrives at a station before 10pm but is waiting in a queue will be permitted to vote.

The Electoral Commission recommends that you check your poll card to find the location of your polling station, as this is the only place you can cast your vote.

You don't require the card itself to vote but you do need photographic ID, which can be a UK or Irish passport, a driving licence, a Translink Senior pass, a war disabled or blind person’s Smartpass, or an electoral identity card.

In a Westminster election, you vote for a single candidate by placing an 'X' beside their name. If there is any other mark made on the ballot paper it may not be counted.

The Electoral Office has issued 23,687 postal votes for this election and 11,707 proxy votes.

If you have a postal vote but have not had a chance to return it by polling day, you can hand it in at your local area electoral office before 10pm. You can’t hand it into a polling station.

It is an offence to take a picture of a ballot paper in a polling station, though pictures taken outside are fine to share on social media sites.

A total of 109 candidates are standing for election, 36 of which are women.

The constituency with the largest electorate is Upper Bann with 80,168 registered voters, while the smallest is West Belfast with 62,423.

Ann Watt of the Electoral Commission said: "Voters in Northern Ireland have had plenty of experience of visiting the polls recently, but it’s important that they do take a few minutes to make sure they have done everything to ensure that their vote will be counted once the polling stations close at 10pm on Thursday.

"Before heading to the polling station make sure you have a correct form of photographic ID with you – it doesn’t matter if it’s out of date as you can still use it to vote."

Verification of ballots begins as soon as the polls close, before counting then immediately gets under way.

The first results from Northern Ireland are expected between midnight and 1am.

: For live coverage of results through the night see www.irishnews.com