NI election ballot counting begins

Counting of votes cast in Northern Ireland's European and local government elections is to begin later.

The verification of election ballots is expected to be completed by mid-afternoon, and the first council seats should be declared by about 18:00 BST.

All results from the 11 new councils should be known by Saturday evening.

In the European election, the results will not be known until Monday when all 28 countries have voted and a central count is completed.

Ten candidates are in the race for Northern Ireland's three seats in the European parliament.

More than 900 people are competing to fill 462 council seats in the 11 district councils.

BBC News Online NI will be providing its most comprehensive coverage ever with live and detailed news and results for each of the 11 new councils from 12:00 BST.

• A constantly updated scoreboard will show the state of the parties across Northern Ireland as the counting goes on, with a live stream of declarations, updates, news, analysis and reaction.
• Each new council will have its own dedicated page with its own state-of-the-parties scoreboard and live stream of news and information.
• There will also be details of who has been elected in each of Northern Ireland's 80 new district electoral areas (DEAs).
• Details of how the results were arrived at in each DEA will be also be available online soon after counting is completed.
• The same service will be available for the European count on Monday 26 May.
• On social media, follow @BBCNewsNI and @BBCRadioFoyle on Twitter and BBC Newsline on Facebook

On television, Vote 2014 is presented by Tara Mills and Mark Carruthers on BBC Two Northern Ireland from 21:00 BST to 22:00 BST and again from 22:30 BST to 23:30 BST.

On BBC Radio Ulster, Seamus McKee presents an Evening Extra election special from 17:00 BST to 18:30 BST and then from 20:00 BST to 22:00 BST.

BBC Radio Foyle will have a special election programme from 20:00 BST, with Sarah Brett presenting.

NI election ballot counting begins

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