Tomorrow, voters in Leicestershire go to the polls to choose which party will run County Hall for the next four years.
Politicians of all parties are urging people to get out and use their votes, fearing apathy may well lead to low turn-outs at polling stations.
The 2013 local election is the first for many years to be held without a General or European election on the same day which would normally encourage larger numbers of people to vote.
In 2009, when the Tories regained control of the county council, 43 per cent of the Leicestershire electorate voted.
Candidates are now involved in a final push for votes, stepping up leafleting and door knocking to get their message over.
The Conservative currently have the majority with 33 seats.
Tory county council leader Nick Rushton, who has had to deal with the fall-out of his predecessor, David Parsons, resignation over his expenses claims, has previously said he sees a Labour resurgence at the main threat to his party.
He has predicted UKIP, fielding 31candidates in Leicestershire, will not win a single seat.
He said: "When people vote, they should think about who can be trusted to provide the best services at the lowest cost. That is the Conservatives.
"There will be some difficult decisions to make. We know there will be reductions to budgets. That is a given.
"It is my intention, after this election, to work with the other parties to tackle the challenges the council faces."
The county council needs to save £79 million over the next four years but the Conservative administration says it still needs to work out where £30million of cuts will be made.
The Liberal Democrat group has 14 seats and leader Councillor Simon Galton said: "We know the financial situation will not be good after the election but whatever hand the council is dealt it will be the Liberal Democrats who will make the right decisions. Frankly the Tories have got some key decisions wrong."
County Labour group lead Coun Max Hunt, who is hoping to add to the four seats his party holds and overtake the Liberal Democrats as the main opposition party, said: "Put simply, if you don't vote, and you don't vote Labour, you will have a new onslaught on services which is being planned by the Conservatives."
UKIP candidate and former Conservative deputy council leader David Sprason said: "I think the Tories are scared of us. They know we are offering people a fresh choice.
"We would freeze council tax for four years, cut the departments at County Hall to save money and we would campaign to get HS2 scrapped and invest the money in local lines like the National Forest Line."
The counts are set to begin at 11.30am on Friday.
Our website will feature full coverage of the results as they come in.
