With voting for the local Council elections currently underway, voters will not have to wait long until their next visit to the polls.

Voting in the 2019 European Elections will take place on May 23 for the three seats that are available in Northern Ireland.

With Brexit due to have taken place before now, it was unclear whether Northern Ireland would be participating in the European Elections but with the UK leaving the EU being further delayed until October 31, it has to participate in the elections.

The current sitting MEPs representing Northern Ireland in the European Parliament are Sinn Féin's Martina Anderson, Dianne Dodds of the DUP and the UUP's Jim Nicholson.

Both Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Dodds are running again however Mr. Nicholson has decided not to put his name forward after 30 years as an MEP.

It is expected that the DUP and Sinn Féin will retain their seats, while the vacant spot left by Mr. Nicholson opens the way for a new face in Europe, however the UUP will be hoping they can hold on to the seat with Danny Kennedy their representative.

And it is expected to be a close run race for that final seat.

In 2014 at the last polling, Sinn Féin and the DUP accounted for more than 45 per cent of the combined vote.

A number of party leaders will also be hoping to win one of the three available seats.

Naomi Long of the Alliance, Clare Bailey of the Green Party, the SDLP's Colum Eastwood and the TUV's Jim Allister have all been nominated for their respective parties.

They will be joined on the ballot paper by Conservative Party representative Amandeep Bhogal, UKIP's Robert Hill and Independent candidates Neil McCann and Jane Morrice.

Jane Morrice was the founder of the Women's Coalition as well as the former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and former Head of the European Commission in Northern Ireland.

If anybody eligible has not registered to vote, they have until Tuesday, May 7 to register.

Further information can be found on the electoral office website - www.eoni.org.uk.