COVID-19 Pandemic 2020: NSW local government elections postponed for twelve months from September 2020

Shelley Hancock – Minister for Local Government, media release,  25 March 2020:

Local Government Elections

The NSW Government has made the regrettable decision to postpone the September local government elections for 12 months in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local government elections are a vital part of the democratic process, ensuring local councils are accountable to their local communities.

Therefore, the decision to postpone them has not been taken lightly but is necessary to ensure the health and safety of voters, NSW Electoral Commission staff and election candidates.

The decision follows Parliament passing amendments to the Local Government Act to provide me with the power to postpone the elections.
The NSW Electoral Commissioner has also requested that the Government postpone the council elections.

This decision provides certainty for local councils, communities and election candidates.

The postponement of the next round of council elections will not change the future schedule of council elections, and the subsequent elections will still proceed in September 2024

Mayoral elections will still be held in 2020.

The new face of local government in the Northern Rivers region of NSW

Now the final votes have been counted the new face of local government in the Northern Rivers region is revealed (with the exception of Tweed Shire LGA).

The political parties listed against councillor names are those included in final results published by the NSW Electoral Commission and do not necessarily represent the full range of political persuasions on any given council, as many councillors belong to political parties but chose not to stand for election with an official endorsement.

Ballina Shire Council:

Phil Meehan, Stephen McCarthy, Nathan Willis, Jeff Johnson, Sharon Cadwallader, Keith Williams, Ben Smith, Eoin Johnston and Sharon Parry.

Byron Shire Council:

Michael Lyon (THE GREENS), Paul Spooner (COUNTRY LABOR), Jeanette Martin (THE GREENS), Sarah Ndiaye (THE GREENS), Basil Cameron (OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE), Alan Hunter, Jan Hackett (COUNTRY LABOR) and Kate Coorey.

Clarence Valley Council:

Richie Williamson, Andrew Baker, Karen Toms, Peter Ellem, Jason Kingsley, Debrah Novak,Jim Simmons,  Arthur Lysaught and Greg Clancy.

Kyogle Council:

Kylie Thomas, Hayden Doolan, Janet Wilson, John Burley, Bob Dwyer, Maggie May, Danielle Mulholland, Lindsay Passfield and Earle Grundy.

Lismore City Council:

Darlene Cook (COUNTRY LABOR), Greg Bennett, Neil Marks, Vanessa Grindon-Ekins (THE GREENS), Edwina Lloyd (COUNTRY LABOR), Nancy Zambelli-Casson, Elly Bird (OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE), Bill Moorhouse, Gianpiero Battista, Adam Guise (THE GREENS).

Richmond Valley Council:

Steve Morrissey, Daniel Simpson, Sandra Duncan-Humphrys, Robert Hayes, Sam Cornish and Jill Lyons.

Tweed Shire Council:

Deferred Election. A new election will be held on 29 October 2016 due to the death of a candidate.

Meet the new Clarence Valley Council

Candidates in order of election to Clarence Valley Council from 16 September 2016:

Richie WILLIAMSON (incumbent), 
Andrew BAKER (incumbent), 
Karen TOMS (incumbent), 
Peter ELLEM, 
Jason KINGSLEY (incumbent), 
Debrah NOVAK, 
Jim SIMMONS  (incumbent),
 Arthur LYSAUGHT (incumbent), 
Greg CLANCY.

Clarence Valley Council - Party or Group and Candidates Result Report

Candidates to be Elected: 9

Counts Required: 19

Quota: 2,971

The margin between the last elected candidate CLANCY Greg and the last un-elected/excluded candidate TIBBETT Brett is 68.

Candidates in Ballot Order	Elected / Excluded	Position Elected / Excluded	Elected / Excluded at Count
NOVAK Debrah	ELECTED	6	14
SAUNDERS Ian	EXCLUDED	6	9
CLANCY Greg	ELECTED	9*	19
ROGERS Peta	EXCLUDED	7	10
TIBBETT Brett		**
TOMS Karen	ELECTED	3	10
TUNKS Ursula	EXCLUDED	2	5
KINGSLEY Jason	ELECTED	5	14
HAGGER John	EXCLUDED	8	12
ELLEM Peter	ELECTED	4	14
WILLIAMSON Richie	ELECTED	1	1
WELLS Marty	EXCLUDED	3	6
ELLEM Trevor	EXCLUDED	10	14
DE ROOS Joy	EXCLUDED	5	8
BATES Keith	EXCLUDED	1	3
HUGHES Sue	EXCLUDED	9	13
SIMMONS Jim	ELECTED	7	18
RIGGALL John	EXCLUDED	4	7
LYSAUGHT Arthur	ELECTED	8*	19
McKENNA Margaret	EXCLUDED	11	18
BAKER Andrew	ELECTED	2	2

* Candidates elected at final count without reaching quota.

** The distribution of the total votes of Candidates would not change the elected candidate(s), therefore their exclusion did not proceed.

Clarence Valley Local Government Elections Vote Tally: state of play on Tuesday night, 13 September 2016

Processing votes cast in the 2016 Clarence Valley local government election is moving at a glacial pace due to the need for accuracy.

Hopefully later today will reveal if any individual within the second tier of candidates moves into the top nine at the expense of candidates currently situated in that first ranking set out below.

CLARENCE VALLEY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA ELECTION RESULTS

The electoral state of play* at 1:25pm when tally updating ceased for Tuesday 13 September looked like this…….

First 9 candidates ranked in order of first preference votes received:

Richie Williamson (9,223) (4,966), Andrew Baker (3,075) (2,915), Karen Toms (1,252) (2,307), Debrah Novak (2,045), Jim Simmons (1,668) (1,980), Jason Kingsley (2,145) (1,970), Peter Ellem (1,965), Greg Clancy (1,275) (1,649), Brett Tibbett (1,276).

Second 9 candidates ranked in order of first preference votes received:

Arthur Lysault (1,122), Margaret McKenna (1,224) (1,074), John Hagger (1,072), Sue Hughes (1,764) (997), Trevor Ellem (962), Peta Rogers (948), Ian Saunders (926),  Joy De Roos (478), John Riggall (461).

Final three candidates ranked in order of first preference votes received:

Marty Wells (295), Ursula Tunks (540) (289), Keith Bates (159).

* First preference votes in 2012 Clarence Valley LGA election marked in red and first preference votes in 2016 LGA election in black.

NSW ELECTORAL COMMISSION VIRTUAL TALLY ROOM

Summary of Candidate First Preference Votes

1:35pm 13 September 2016

There are 9 Councillors to be elected from 21 candidates

Total Number of Electors enrolled in this Council area on 1 August 2016: 39,070

Percentage of all enrolled voters counted: 81.02%

Data Entry commenced: 8:32am 12 September 2016

Progressive Quota: 2,986

Informal Rate: 5.69%

Summary of First Preference Votes
Candidate	Party/IND		FP Votes		Quota Ratio		% Formal Votes
NOVAK Debrah	IND		2,045		0.68		6.85%
SAUNDERS Ian	IND		926		0.31		3.10%
CLANCY Greg	GRN		1,649		0.55		5.52%
ROGERS Peta	IND		948		0.32		3.18%
TIBBETT Brett	IND		1,276		0.43		4.27%
TOMS Karen	IND		2,307		0.77		7.73%
TUNKS Ursula	IND		289		0.1		0.97%
KINGSLEY Jason	IND		1,970		0.66		6.60%
HAGGER John	IND		1,072		0.36		3.59%
ELLEM Peter	IND		1,965		0.66		6.58%
WILLIAMSON Richie			4,966		1.66		16.63%
WELLS Marty	IND		295		0.1		0.99%
ELLEM Trevor	IND		962		0.32		3.22%
DE ROOS Joy			478		0.16		1.60%
BATES Keith			159		0.05		0.53%
HUGHES Sue	IND		997		0.33		3.34%
SIMMONS Jim	IND		1,980		0.66		6.63%
RIGGALL John	IND		461		0.15		1.54%
LYSAUGHT Arthur	IND		1,122		0.38		3.76%
McKENNA Margaret	IND		1,074		0.36		3.60%
BAKER Andrew	IND		2,915		0.98		9.76%
Total Formal Votes Counted			29,856				100%
Total Informal/Other Votes			1,800				5.69%
Progressive Total Votes			31,656

All second preference distributions should be included in the final ballot tally by Thursday night, 15 September and the election results announced by 16 September 2016.