Laois Election: Slow voter turnout likely to speed up after working day
Update: Just one in seven Portlaoise voters made their mark by 5pm
Voting has been quiet enough around Laois especially in larger towns, but it is expected to surge tonight, with the county's 114 polling stations staying open until 10pm.
Latest statistics gathered at a sample of polling stations in Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Rathdowney and Rosenallis, show that rural voters are still more eager to get in their voices heard.
In Portlaoise, at the two sample ballot boxes in the Holy Family Senior School, just under 15% of voters turned out between 7am and 5pm.
Over in Mountmellick it was marginally better, with over a fifth, 21.4% getting to the polling station before 5pm.
In the smaller town of Rathdowney in south Laois, 30% of registered voters had already cast their votes by 5pm. In the village of Rosenallis, it stood at just over a quarter of the voters.