Barkly Regional Council, Patta Ward by-election: Counting finished for the night

Counting in the Barkly Regional Council, Patta Ward by-election has finished for the night.

The results from the initial count are as follows:

• Nungarayi Shirley Lewis with 39 votes
• Brian (Jappanangka) Coleman with 84 votes
• Clarissa Burgen with 70 votes
• Elliot McAdam with 211 votes
• Sharen Lake with 146 votes
• Pennie Cowin with 38 votes

All early and mobile votes have been counted this includes votes cast today.

There remains 97 postal votes to be returned to the NT Electoral Commission over the next 13 days, in addition to 47 declaration votes to be verified and possibly added to the count. Initial counts for postal and declaration votes will occur next week.

A re-check of all votes counted this evening will commence from 10am on Monday 8 May in the NT Electoral Commission office in Darwin. All ballot papers will be entered and verified through electronic count software EasyCount.

As there are two vacancies, the proportional representation vote counting method is used to ensure both vacant positions are allocated as near as possible in proportion to the votes received. Candidates are elected after achieving a quota or proportion of the formal votes.

The final counts and distribution of preferences will be held from 12 noon on Friday 19 May.

The results for the Patta Ward by-election are available on the NT Electoral Commission website.