Voter turnout across Northern Ireland has been reportedly steady through General Election day despite inclement weather sweeping large parts of the region.
With two hours to go before the polls close, voters were continuing to brave the rain to cast their ballots.The poor conditions have placed a question mark over whether the relatively high turnout of 64.8% in March's Assembly election will be replicated.
Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster avoid the rain as she voted near her home in Brookeborough, Co Fermanagh, early this morning, while Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill marked her ballot paper close to her home village of Clonoe in Co Tyrone.
Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann voted in Kells, Co Antrim, with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Alliance leader Naomi Long voting in Londonderry and Belfast respectively.
The 1,380 polling stations located in 619 voting centres across the region, including one on the remote off shore island of Rathlin, will remain open until 10pm.
The election is the seventh time voters have cast a ballot in Northern Ireland in three years.
Election fatigue has been one of the explanations offered for what was a low-key campaign in the region.
The poll comes just three months after the snap Assembly election triggered by the collapse of powersharing.
Since 2014, there has also been another general and Assembly election, a European election, a local government election and the EU referendum.
For many local politicians, the snap general election was an unwanted distraction from efforts to restore the Stormont institutions.
Floundering negotiations to re-establish a coalition government in Belfast, which were put on ice during the campaign, will resume once the dust settles on Thursday's results.
The ongoing Assembly crisis blurred the lines between Stormont and Westminster issues on the campaign trail, with the blame game over the implosion of devolution spilling into the race for Westminster seats.
As in the rest of the UK, Brexit was a key campaign issue. While Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance all called for some form of special designated EU status for Northern Ireland after the UK exits, the Democratic Unionists and Ulster Unionists steadfastly opposed anything that differentiated the region from Great Britain.
Since last June's EU referendum, the Brexit debate in Northern Ireland has become increasingly intertwined with the constitutional question.
Nationalists and republicans claim the UK decision to leave the EU, in the face of a 56% remain vote in Northern Ireland, highlights the case for a united Ireland.
Unionists insist support for remaining in the EU cannot be interpreted as a swing in public opinion toward unification.
Those contrasting views were played out during the election, with the DUP urging voters to strengthen the Union and Sinn Fein encouraging supporters to add momentum to their campaign for a border poll.
A loyalist killing in Co Down at the end of May ensured the continued influence of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland became a key issue in the latter stages of the campaign.
The DUP was forced to distance itself from the endorsement of an umbrella group representing loyalist paramilitaries, while Sinn Fein defended the inclusion of convicted IRA bomber Sean Kelly on its canvas team in north Belfast.
In the 2015 general election, the DUP won eight seats, Sinn Fein four, the SDLP three, the UUP two, with one independent unionist returned.
A formal pact struck between the DUP and UUP two years ago was not replicated this time round, though both parties did step aside in certain battleground seats to maximise the pro-Union vote.
Meanwhile, a mooted "anti-Brexit" pact between pro-Remain parties such as the Greens, SDLP and Sinn Fein failed to materialise.
Despite the largely uneventful campaign, at least six of the 18 seats are set to be tightly fought.
Three Belfast constituencies - South, East and North - along with South Down, South Antrim and Fermanagh and South Tyrone could all go down to the wire.
Counting will take place at seven centres across the region, with results expected during the early hours of Friday.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here