2012 Palerang Council Election Result

The election results were formally declared, after the withdrawal of a request for a recount, at 16.00 on 13 September 2012. The successful candidates were elected in the following order:

• Pete Harrison
• Mark Schweikert
• Belinda Hogarth-Boyd
• Garth Morrison
• Keith France
• Trevor Hicks
• Paul Cockram
• Peter Marshall
• Richard Graham

In the event, the count was pretty straightforward. The only change throughout was that Paul Cockram and Peter Marshall swapped positions late in the count. The nine councillors ultimately elected were more than 150 votes clear of the next candidate, Ian Marjason, from the outset and that gap essentially remained the same throughout.

Prior to the count, some 244 votes that were initially declared informal votes were accepted as formal, so the informal rate dropped to 9.1%, not a particularly good result, but certainly much better than the 16% recorded in some other LGAs.

Also, in spite of the fact that over 60% of the above-the-line voters did not offer a second preference, only 474 votes exhausted, most of them on the last count and with no impact on the ultimate result.

Election Count Summary

The accompanying spreadsheet summarises the ballot counting process. The figures used to prepare this spreadsheet were extracted directly from the results section of the NSWEC website. Candidates are listed in the spreadsheet in the order in which they were elected (or the reverse order of exclusion from the Count). The below-the-line (BTL) vote for each candidate is listed first, followed by the above-the-line (ATL) vote for each Group (against the names of the leaders of the respective Groups).

Mayoral Election

In the Palerang LGA, councillors elect the mayor each year. At the first meeting of the new Palerang Council on 20 September 2012, returning councillor Pete Harrison was elected, unopposed, as Mayor. Councillor Paul Cockram was re-elected Deputy Mayor.