Constituency profile/North Belfast: Six seat and six parties represented tells its own story. In 1998 this volatile constituency returned Assembly members from the Ulster Unionists, the DUP, the Progressive Unionists, Sinn Féin. the SDLP and another unionist from the United Unionist Coalition.
The nationalist parties both narrowly lost out on a second seat last time and are anxious to make amends. The Ulster Unionists are desperate to keep its one, while the DUP is also campaigning heavily for another.
Mr Billy Hutchinson is fighting hard to retain his seat - only one of two which the Progressive Unionists held in the outgoing Assembly.
The ballot paper also includes candidates from the Alliance Party, Workers' Party, the Women's Coalition, the Greens, and the "Vote for Yourself" party. Just to add to the mix there are also two independents.
North Belfast is the 15th smallest of the 18 constituencies and has roughly a 40:60 Catholic/Protestant ratio.
Mr Nigel Dodds, a candidate and an outgoing Minister, is the area's DUP MP having beaten the UUP for the seat in 2001.
The area includes Ardoyne, which has seen a substantial drop in registration following the tightening of procedures and also the Holy Cross primary school, scene of protracted protests in 2001 as Catholic schoolgirls walked through Protestant streets to get to class.
North Belfast has some of the gravest political, social and economic problems to be found anywhere in Northern Ireland. It has also endured some of the worst violence of the past 35 years.
Sinn Féin hopes its high-profile candidate, the outgoing Assemblyman Mr Gerry Kelly, can be joined in any new Stormont by his running mate Ms Kathy Stanton.
Mr Alban Maginness, a former SDLP chairman and the first Catholic Lord Mayor of Belfast, is hoping to bring in his colleague Mr Pat Convery. Eyebrows were raised when the current SDLP Lord Mayor, Mr Martin Morgan, did not seek a nomination. Mr Dodds harbours similar ambitions for Mr Nelson McCausland.
Mr Fred Cobain of the UUP, the "Billy Hutchinson" of the PUP and Mr Fraser Agnew for the United Unionist Coalition have a fight on their hands if they are to retain their seats.
However, there are factors which make this most unpredictable of constituencies even more subject to guesswork.
The new register would appear to hold problems for Sinn Féin in that so many are missing from the list of electors in its strongholds. Party insiders say many of its voters were removed, but good constituency work has had them replaced.
Transfers too could play the most crucial role of all.
The DUP and Sinn Féin have tended to do less well from transfers than other parties in previous elections. This time, Sinn Féin has made an effort to attract transfers and to appeal in particular to first-time voters.
With some predicting that this election will show significant gains for the DUP and Sinn Féin, North Belfast could act as the perfect example.
It is unlikely that so many parties will represent this troubled corner of Belfast by Friday evening.