2017 Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Election Result
The election results were formally declared at 11.39 on 15 September 2017. The successful candidates were elected in the following order:
- Tim Overall
- Brian Brown
- Mark Schweikert
- Trudy Taylor
- Peter Bray
- Trevor Hicks
- Kenrick Winchester
- Michele Biscotti
- Peter Marshall
- Pete Harrison
- Radmila Noveska
In the event, the count was once again pretty straightforward. The first eleven candidates after the counting of first preference votes were those ultimately elected. The only impact of preference distribution was to slightly shuffle the order in which candidates were elected. The eleven councillors ultimately elected were more than 300 votes clear of the next candidate, Ian Marjason, at the outset and that gap only closed slightly (to 220) at the very end of the count.
With 31853 votes being cast, and only 1847 of those being declared informal, the informal rate was only 5.80%. This is somewhat lower than had been experienced in previous elections in the area, and a little surprising (that it wasn't higher) given the number of candidates (80).
Over 80% of the votes were cast above the line, so that less than 20% of voters voted (below-the-line) for specific candidates. With a required quota of 2501 votes, and the highest count for a candidate without an above-the-line voting box being 867 (after distribution of preferences), for all intents and purposes it was impossible for a candidate to be elected without being part of a Group (with an above-the-line voting box).
Election Count Summary
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The accompanying spreadsheet summarises the ballot counting process. Given the large number of candidates involved, only the first 28 candidates are listed. 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 Queanbeyan-Palerang LGA, councillors elect the mayor every two years. At the first meeting of the new Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council on 20 September 2017, councillor Tim Overall was elected as Mayor and councillor Trevor Hicks was elected Deputy Mayor.