As of noon today Thursday (December 9), 61,808 votes had been counted in the MidCoast election, 10.18 per cent (6291) of which were informal. It is believed some voters were confused about above- and below-line voting procedures.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Eighty nominees, comprising 13 groups and one ungrouped candidate, are seeking the 11 councillor positions.
Group C, headed by Peter Epov, had recorded 10,229 first preference votes, or 18.42 per cent. Next was Group A (Alan Tickle) with 6711 votes, or 12.09 per cent of first preferences.
What the tally board looks like:
Group A (Alan Tickle): 6711 votes (12.01 per cent)
Group B (Jeremy Miller): 3660 (6.59%)
Group C (Peter Epov): 10,229 (18.42%)
Group D (Paul Sandilands): 4059 (7.31%)
Group E (The Greens, Dheera Smith): 2876 (5.18%)
Group F (Katheryn Smith): 3351 (6.04%)
Group G (Karen Hutchinson): 2035 (3.67%)
Group H (ALP Claire Pontin): 5478 (9.87%)
Group I (Kathryn Bell): 2671 (4.81%)
Group J (Len Roberts): 2335 (4.21%)
Group K (Liberal, Troy Fowler): 7295 (13.14%)
Group L (Luke Cubis): 2231 (4.02%)
Group M (Jessica Corkill): 2437 (4.39%)
Ungrouped (Michael Bergin): 149 (0.27%)
The mayor and deputy mayor will be voted on by the new councillors.
The new MidCoast Council will meet for the first time on Wednesday, January 16.
While counting of ballot papers in the December 4 MidCoast Council local government election began at the close of voting, don't expect an outcome immediately.
In fact, the final result won't be made available until just before Christmas.
NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) workers began counting ballot papers on-site at polling booths across the Mid Coast from 6pm on election day with the count concluded late that evening.
Mid Coast returning officer, Greg Cousins said the counting of pre-poll and other declaration votes will take a little longer, with much of that process being undertaken at the Mid-Coast returning officer's Forster office.
"These should be counted by around Thursday December 9," Mr Cousins said.
Postal and iVotes, which will be counted at centralised count centres, won't be finalised until December 17, the last day postal votes are accepted.
"All ballot papers are check counted and data entered at (for Mid-Coast) a centralised centre in Newcastle," he said.
"When this process is complete, preferences are distributed, and the result announced - from about December 21."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram: @manningrivertimes
Follow us on Google News
