General News
7 April, 2020
ECQ not ready to announce councils
The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) has said that final results for Far North Queensland Councils could still be weeks away.
With the deadline for postal votes ending close of business yesterday March 7, the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) has said that final results for Far North Queensland Councils could still be weeks away.
The Tablelands Regional Council (TRC) was hoping to have the new council sworn in this week, but due to a short week and delays at the ECQ, this is now looking unlikely.
A spokesperson from the ECQ said, "That the declaration of the poll can only occur when a result is mathematically certain." she said
"In the 2016 local government election, it took two and a half weeks to fully declare all the councils and mayors and social distancing measures mean the count is progressing more slowly than usual."
The only councillor to be officially declared by the ECQ as of 7 am April 8, is TRC nominee Bernie Wilce, who beat Daryl Drury to win Divison 6.
Even though the ECQ hasn't made it official, former Deputy Mayor of the Tablelands Regional Council (TRC) and mayoral candidate Katrina Mellick has conceded to Rod Marti who will be the new mayor of the TRC.
Former Mareeba Shire councillor Nipper Brown has also conceded to Angela Toppin announcing "Congratulations to Angela on her election to Mayor"
As of 5.30 pm April 7, Ms Toppin leads Mr Brown 53.06% to 46.94% respectively with 76.79% of the vote counted.
