COUNTING is underway at the three count centres into the 2022 Assembly elections.
Ballot papers are being verified and counted at centres in Magherafelt, Belfast and Jordanstown.
Voting ended at polling stations on Thursday night when they closed their doors to the public at 10 pm.
A total of 239 candidates are running in 18 constituencies across Northern Ireland, including a record 87 women.
The Electoral Office said the indicative turnout was 54 per cent as of 9 pm on Thursday night.
However, the official final turnout figure will not be known until later today, Friday, May 6.
At the last assembly election in 2017, the overall turnout was 64%.
Chief electoral officer Virginia McVey explained earlier in the day that this was the first time turnout could be monitored digitally.
The Electoral Office said the figure was based on the average of returns from polling stations, with the indicative turnout ranging from 60% in West Belfast to 47% in the South Antrim constituency.
Voters were able to use the single transferable vote (STV) form of proportional representation.
This allowed voters to rank as many candidates as they wanted in order of preference.
Counting begins on Friday with five candidates to be elected in each constituency.
The result will also have significance for the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol is the Brexit deal that prevents a hard Irish border by keeping Northern Ireland inside the European Union’s (EU) single market for goods.
It also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The assembly members elected today will have to vote on whether to continue with the parts of the protocol which create that internal UK trade border.
That consent vote has to take place before the end of 2024. The vote will be decided by simple majority rather than requiring cross-community consent.
Unionist parties oppose the protocol whereas nationalists and the centrist Alliance see it is an acceptable compromise to mitigate some of the impacts of Brexit.
The Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has indicated that the government will not be introducing legislation relating to the protocol in the Queen’s Speech later this month.
In an interview on Thursday, Mr Lewis stressed the importance of negotiation with the European Union.
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Ulster on Friday, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson said the government was making a mistake by not including legislation relating to the protocol.
“The last conversation I had with government ministers there was an assurance that there would be legislation
“First of all, as I’ve said many times before, I don’t take assurances from this government with too much confidence because they seem to change their minds so frequently.
British Secretary of State Brandon Lewis rules out legislating for NI Protocol in Queen’s Speech
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said that if there is no assembly then there will likely be direct rule from Westminster.
“I have been saying to the DUP for some time that waiting for Boris Johnson to save you is a mistake.
“The reality is, as Sammy was saying there, nobody could accept a different jurisdiction making our laws, but if there is no assembly there will be some form of direct rule.”
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