Douglas Shire decides
LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS
UPDATE 5:00pm:
Port Douglas resident and former councillor Michael Kerr is on the brink of becoming the new mayor of the Douglas Shire.
The 2020 local election has proved to be a tightly contested race for mayor with Mr Kerr currently holding 54.91 per cent of the vote.
A spokesperson for the ECQ today confirmed that a total of 6228 people voted in the Douglas Shire including postal vote applications.
The ECQ website states currently 5821 votes have been counted with Mr Kerr 560 votes ahead of incumbent mayor Julia Leu.
Newsport spoke with Mr Kerr this afternoon and he said: “It’s looking good but I’ll wait for the official result from the electoral commission.”
The Douglas Shire is now eagerly awaiting the official declaration to be made by the ECQ.
Based on the numbers provided it would appear the final count will be in Mr Kerr’s favour.
Ms Leu was approached for comment but was unavailable.
As for the councillor race, the four candidates currently in the lead are: Lisa Scomazzon with 3659 votes, followed by Peter McKeown on 3289 votes, then Roy Zammataro on 2961 votes, and Abigail Noli with 2742 votes.
Follow the Mayoral vote
Follow the Councillor vote
UPDATE 1:50pm:
Currently, 70.10 per cent of the preliminary votes for mayor has been counted along with 13.64 per cent of the preliminary councillor vote.
According to the ECQ, of 8300 people in the Douglas Shire eligible to vote, only 1100 people voted on election day, while 4618 people voted in pre-polling over the two weeks leading up to the election and 438 people applied for postal voting.
Preliminary voting doesn't include postal voting and it can take up to 10 days after polling day to receive postal votes, so depending on how close the result is, it could be a number of days before the official result is declared. Newsport will bring you all updates as they come in.
The ECQ has said the large number of postal votes sent in the local government elections across the state, (approximately 570,000) and new social distancing measures to be applied during the scrutineering process, is expected to extend the counting process.
UPDATE 10:20am:
Counting continues today and the race for mayor is still a close contest.
With 70.10 per cent of the preliminary mayoral vote counted Michael Kerr is edging ahead with 54.91 per cent of the vote to Julia Leu's 45.09 per cent.
UPDATE 11:20pm:
A close contest for mayor is shaping up with 45.30 per cent of the vote counted tonight.
The ECQ has Michael Kerr just in the lead at 51.44 per cent to Julia Leu's 48.56 per cent.
13.64 per cent of the councillor vote has been counted with Lisa Scomazzon so far taking the majority of votes at 16.99 per cent, followed closely by Roy Zammataro, then Peter McKeown, Abigail Noli, Natalie Johnson, Bruce Clarke, Kym Rowley, Terry Melchert, and Steve Cruickshank.
Adding more drama to this election, the ECQ experienced technical issues earlier tonight causing a delay in the publishing of results to the ECQ website, leaving candidates waiting on a knife-edge. The issue has now been resolved.
Counting will continue tomorrow.
UPDATE 7:45pm:
Early results are showing it will be a close contest for mayor.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) has 8.07 per cent of the votes counted showing mayoral challenger Michael Kerr has 55.59 per cent of the vote to incumbent mayor Julia Leu's 44.41 per cent.
Zero per cent of the councillor vote has been counted.
EARLIER:
There are only a few hours left for Douglas residents to head to the polls to have their say on the Shire’s next mayor and councillors, in what has been an election like no other.
Social distant lines and spaced out booths is what voters were met with today as the election carried on amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
The polls will close at 6:00pm with counting to commence shortly after.
Newsport will provide rolling coverage on the results right here as they come in.
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