Postal votes to decide election cliffhanger



Published Wednesday 23 March 2016

The Douglas Shire councillor election hangs on a knife-edge with only one vote separating candidates Peter McKeown and Michael Kerr.

McKeown, Kerr and current councillor David Carey face an anxious wait over the Easter long weekend with final results not likely to be declared until next Wednesday, after all postal votes were received and counted.

As of today, the Electorate Commission Queensland (ECQ) website shows Carey on 2,243 votes (10.26 per cent), Peter McKeown on 2,224 (10.17 per cent) and Michael Kerr on 2,223 (10.17) with just two seats at the council table available. Roy Zammataro and Abigail Noli have already been declared two of the four new councillors to serve under victorious Mayor Julia Leu in the next term.

It's estimated 164 postal votes are yet to be received, and with the long weekend potentially affecting receipt of mail the final result is impossible to predict.

The ECQ Assistant Director Carrick Brough confirmed they would not publish the result of any seat while McKeown, Kerr and Carey all remained in the running.

“A declaration of the result in Douglas Shire will not be made while there is a mathematical possibility that more than one candidate can win," Brough said.

"This may mean that a result cannot be declared until after the last eligible postal votes have been returned to the Commission next Tuesday, and are counted.”


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Postal votes received after 6pm on Tuesday March 29 are ineligible. Given the public holidays on Friday and Monday, voters yet to send their mail would need to via Express Post before COB tomorrow to guarantee delivery by the deadline.

"The last mail collection day is tomorrow, there are no mail and parcel deliveries (including Express Post) on Good Friday and Easter Monday, which are national public holidays," an Australia Post spokesperson said. 

"Our processing network continues to operate over the weekend in preparation for delivery on Tuesday, which is when normal postal services resume."

The Australia Post website urges customers to allow for additional delivery time when sending time-sensitive material close to national, state, regional or local public holidays.

“The next guaranteed day of delivery for Express Post items posted before closing time on the business day before a public holiday will be the next business day after a public holiday. This applies for all items sent to and from locations within the national, state and Saturday Delivery Express Post networks,” the website states.

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