The final result of the Local Government election will be made known on Tuesday when the ten councillors for the new term will be confirmed. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be elected by the councillors on Thursday, 23rd December.
The much anticipated election with a total of 19 candidates (includes the group of six) resulted in many conversations, predictions, debates and some accusations.
The total number of votes counted are 8,689 according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page and the quota is 739 per candidate for Proportional Representation (PR). This means any surplus votes of the elected candidates (that is, votes in excess of the quota they needed) are transferred to the candidates who were the second choice of voters. However, they are transferred as a reduced value. This is why it takes so much time to finalise the results.
The latest vote count for the top ten councillors according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page for the Parkes Shire are: Ken Keith 1,165; Glenn Wilson 946; Louise O’Leary 777; Bill Jayet 708; Neil Westcott 706; Jacob Cass 661; Marg Applebee 577; Kenny McGrath 492; George Pratt 428 and John Southon 335.