Tweed Shire Council election ballot results

November 3, 5pm

THE RESULTS of the Tweed Shire Council election have been announced with Ron Cooper securing the hotly contested seventh position.

The elected Councillors are (in sequence of election):

1.   Katie Milne
2.   Warren Polglase
3.   Pryce Allsop
4.   James Owen
5.   Reece Byrnes
6.   Chris Cherry
7.   Ron Cooper

Candidates have 24 hours to request a recount and the poll will be officially confirmed tomorrow afternoon (Friday, November 4).

The first Extraordinary Meeting for the new Council will take place on Thursday, November 17 at the Council Chambers in Murwillumbah.

At this meeting, the Councillors will elect the Mayor for the next two years (a change from the previous 12 month term) and determine dates and times of future Council meetings.

Council’s General Manager, Troy Green, congratulated the new Councillors.

“I look forward to this term of Council and working with the newly-elected Councillors to achieve the aspirations of the Tweed community,” Mr Green said.

“I’d like to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the outgoing Councillors, who committed many hours advocating for the people of Tweed Shire: Gary Bagnall, Carolyn Byrne, Barry Longland and Phil Youngblutt (retired).

November 2, 5pm

COUNTING HAS concluded for another day with Ron Cooper moving up to the tightly contested seventh position.

There are no changes to the top six positions and still less than one-and-a-half percent separating Ron Cooper, Barry Longland, Garry Bagnall, Jayne Henry, Dot Holdom, Michael McNamara and Carolyn Byrne.

The preference count will occur tomorrow, Thursday November 3 and the final result will be announced on Friday, November 4.

Ron Cooper could be in with a chance as he will receive preferences from Gary Bagnall and Michael McNamara whilst Barry Longland will receive preferences from Dot Holdom. Barry Longland currently sits only 150 votes behind Ron Cooper. Carolyn Byrne will receive preferences from Warren Polglase and other conservative candidates which should move her up in the standings.

It’s too close to call so we’ll have to wait til Friday to find out who has won the crucial seventh position.

See tomorrow’s Weekly (November 3) for the full election wrap.

Ballot Count Wednesday November 2, 5pm, 45,089 formal votes counted

Tweed Greens Group D (Katie Milne) 6297 votes (14 per cent of the total vote).

Warren Polglase Group A 6091 votes (13.5 per cent).

Tweed Liberals Group F (James Owen) 5016 votes (11.1 per cent).

Tweed Labor Group N 4582 (Reece Byrnes)  (10.2 per cent).

Pryce Allsop Group H 3924 (8.7 per cent).

Chris Cherry Group B 2297 votes (5.1 per cent).

No High Rise Group M (Ron Cooper) 1677 votes (3.7 per cent).

Barry Longland Group I 1527 (3.4 per cent) 

Garry Bagnall Group K 1332 (3.0 per cent)

Jayne Henry Group C 1231 votes (2.7 per cent)

Dot Holdom Group G 1151 votes (2.6 per cent)

Carolyn Byrne Group L 1052 votes (2.3 per cent)

Michael McNamara Group E 1041 votes (2.3 per cent)

Kaye Sharples Group O 922 votes (2 per cent)

Kevin Skinner Group J 780 votes (1.7 per cent)

Dion Andrews Independent 440 votes (1.0 per cent)

Suzy Hudson Independent 89 votes (0.2 per cent)

Mathuranatha Das 64 votes (0.1 per cent)

James McKenzie 59 votes (0.1 per cent)

October 31, 7pm

Counting has concluded for another day with no major changes to the standings and still a tight race for the bottom position.

The fight for the seventh position is tight with just over one-and-a-half percent separating Barry Longland, Ron Cooper, Garry Bagnall, Jayne Henry, Dot Holdom, Michael McNamara and Carolyn Byrne.

Katie Milne and Warren Polglase look set to retain their Councillor positions with the highest number of votes. They are followed by new faces James Owen, Reece Byrnes, Pryce Allsop and Chris Cherry.

Please note that there are still votes to count with the close of postal votes this afternoon, a total of 42,922 formal votes have been counted. The 2012 election saw 42,840 formal votes cast.

Preferences are likely to change the current standings and will be tallied on Thursday, November 3.

Candidates who achieve a quota of votes are automatically elected, and excess votes above this quota are transferred to second preferences. Preferences are also transferred from candidates that have the lowest number of votes and are declared out of the race. The candidates with the highest number of votes at the end of preferencing are elected.

At the 2012 election, based on 42,840 formal votes each candidate required a quota of 5,356 votes. Based on the current figures Katie Milne and Warren Polglase will be automatically elected and the other five Councillor positions will be decided on preferences.

An official announcement will be made on Friday, November 4.

Ballot Count Monday October 30, 7pm, 42,922 formal votes counted

Tweed Greens Group D (Katie Milne) 6037 votes (14.1 per cent of the total vote).

Warren Polglase Group A 5770 votes (13.4 per cent).

Tweed Liberals Group F (James Owen) 4684 votes (10.9 per cent).

Tweed Labor Group N (Reece Byrnes) 4322 (10.1 per cent).

Pryce Allsop Group H 3838 (8.9 per cent).

Chris Cherry Group B 2198 votes (5.1 per cent).

Barry Longland Group I 1650 (3.85 per cent) 

No High Rise Group M (Ron Cooper) 1610 votes (3.8 per cent).

Garry Bagnall Group K 1280 (3.0 per cent)

Jayne Henry Group C 1183 votes (2.8 per cent)

Dot Holdom Group G 1098 votes (2.6 per cent)

Michael McNamara Group E 999 votes (2.3 per cent)

Carolyn Byrne Group L 993 votes (2.3 per cent)

Kaye Sharples Group O 891 votes (2.1 per cent)

Kevin Skinner Group J 748 votes (1.7 per cent)

Dion Andrews Independent 427 votes (1.0 per cent)

Suzy Hudson Independent 83 votes (0.2 per cent)

Mathuranatha Das 64 votes (0.1 per cent)

James McKenzie 59 votes (0.1 per cent)

Sunday October 30, 8pm

THE TWEED VALLEY WEEKLY has crunched the ballot numbers indicating a very tight race for the seventh position.
The fight for the seventh position is tight with less than one-and-a-half percent separating Barry Longland, Ron Cooper, Garry Bagnall, Jayne Henry, Michael McNamara, Carolyn Byrne and Dot Holdom.

Katie Milne and Warren Polglase look set to retain their Councillor positions with the highest number of votes. They are followed by new faces James Owen, Reece Byrnes, Pryce Allsop and Chris Cherry.

Please note that not all votes have been counted, a total of 30,941 formal votes have been counted from the polls and Monday, October 31 will see the close of postal votes. There could be more than 5,000 votes left to count with 42,840 formal votes cast at the 2012 election.

Preferences could also change the current standings and will be tallied on Thursday, November 3.

Candidates need to secure a quota of votes to be elected, excess votes above this quota are transferred as preferences to other candidates. At the 2012 election, based on 42,840 formal votes each candidate required a quota of 5,356 votes.

Tweed residents have strongly voted against an extra two councillors with 61.5 per cent voting no after 32,243 votes had been counted.

Saturday October 29, 11.35pm

THE FINAL numbers are in from the polling booths for tonight with 38,724 votes counted.

Katie Milne and Warren Polglase look set to retain their positions on the council with the highest number of votes. They are followed by new faces James Owen, Reece Byrnes, Pryce Allsop and Chris Cherry.

The fight for the seventh position is tight with only one percent separating Ron Cooper, Barry Longland, Carolyn Byrne, Jayne Henry and Garry Bagnall.

Final postal votes will be counted next week with a deadline on Monday, October 31, and preferences could change the current standings.

An announcement should be made on Thursday as to who the seven Councillors will be.

There will not be an increase in Councillor numbers with 61.5 per cent voting against an increase in the referendum.

Saturday October 29, 9.45pm

COUNTING CONTINUES to determine the next seven Tweed Shire Councillors with 8,621 votes counted of 55,792 registered voters, and there are a few surprises.

While it’s too early to call and a wait till Thursday for final preferences, at the time of reporting the front runners on first preferences are as follows;

Tweed Greens Group D (Katie Milne) 1149 votes (13.3 per cent of the total vote).

Warren Polglase Group A with 926 votes (10.7 per cent).

Pryce Allsop Group H 838 (9.7 per cent).

Tweed Liberals Group F (James Owen 715 votes (8.3 per cent).

Tweed Labor Group N (Reece Byrnes) 673 (7.8 per cent).

No High Rise Group M (Ron Cooper) 381 votes (5.8 per cent).

Chris Cherry Group B 327 votes (3.8 per cent).

Current Tweed Shire Councillors are slow starters with at least 80 per cent of the vote yet to be counted.

Carolyn Byrne Group L 233 votes (2.7 per cent)

Garry Bagnall Group K 212 (2.5 per cent)

Barry Longland Group I 199 (2.3 per cent) 

58.6 per cent have voted no on the referendum as to whether the Tweed needs two more Councillors with 7,158 votes counted.

Sunday and Monday will see counting for the remaining absentee votes up to the close of postal voting at 6pm on Monday, October 31. Votes counted tonight include first preference figures for each polling place and for some, not all, absentee vote categories.

Councillor ballot papers will be batched and data entered in the Returning Officer’s office from Sunday to the Wednesday, November 2.

The distribution of preferences will take place at the Returning Officer’s office on Thursday, November 3. Once completed by the Returning Officer, the distribution of preferences will be updated and the winning candidates will be determined.