Groote Archipelago Regional Council general election: Counting finished for the night

Counting in the Groote Archipelago Regional Council general election has finished for the night.

An initial count of first preference votes has been carried out with the results as follows:

Councillor Positions

Central ward: (5 candidates for 3 positions)

Gordon WALSH  - 40 votes

Leonard AMAGULA - 2 votes

Gregson LALARA - 11 votes

Rosalie LALARA - 9 votes

Fabian LALARA - 24 votes

The initial count includes votes cast at remote mobile voting services from Thursday 13 March to Saturday 15 March.

In addition, 16 declaration votes were issued and following verification may be included in the count. There are also 23 postal votes to be returned to the NT Electoral Commission over the next 13 days. No early votes were cast at the Early Voting Centre at the NT Electoral Commission office.

The deadline for receipt of postal votes is 12noon Friday 28 March. Initial counts of first preference votes for declaration and postal votes will occur after 12noon on Friday 28 March.

Ballot papers counted this evening will undergo further scrutiny with all ballot papers to be data entered and verified through electronic count software Easy Count. This will commence from Tuesday 18 March in the NT Electoral Commission office in Darwin.

The results of all initial counts will be published on the NTEC website following the completion of each count.

Final results will be published following the distribution of preferences, which will occur from 3 pm on Friday 28 March.

The electoral system used in local government elections in the Northern Territory is Proportional Representation. There are three vacancies for the position of Councillor for the Central Ward election.  For a candidate to be elected they must achieve quota. The quota is determined by dividing the number of formal ballots by the number of vacancies, plus 1, then adding 1 to this total.  The quota cannot be determined until all ballot papers are returned and counted.

No elections were held for the West Ward and East Ward as these wards were uncontested, meaning the number of candidates was equal to the number of vacancies.

For updated results visit: https://ntec.nt.gov.au/elections/current-elections/2024-groote-archipelago-regional-council/results

For more information about the Groote Archipelago Regional Council election visit the NT Electoral Commission website. https://ntec.nt.gov.au/elections/current-elections/2024-groote-archipelago-regional-council