Baker In Front As Mackay Waits

Mackay is still waiting for an official declaration in the council by-election, but all signs point to Anne Baker taking the seat.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) confirmed that counting began at 6pm on Saturday, 30 August, in the presence of scrutineers. The process is ongoing, with postal votes still being received.

Latest results from the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) revealed Baker had secured 29.58 per cent of the vote, almost double that of her nearest rivals Melissa Milton and Andrew Deguara, who were sitting just over 14 per cent each.

Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said more than 54,500 votes had been counted so far, representing around 60 per cent of the Mackay electoral roll.

“A declaration of a successful candidate can only be made when the outcome is certain,” Mr Vidgen said.

“While voters needed to complete their ballot papers by 6pm on Saturday, we are still receiving votes through the mail for this full postal by-election. For your vote to count, we must receive it by 5pm on Tuesday 9 September.”

Postal votes postmarked before the close of polling but arriving this week will be added to the tally. Locals who missed the mail deadline have also been able to deliver ballot papers directly to the Returning Office at the Mackay Showgrounds.

At the time of going to print, not enough votes had been received to announce our newest councillor. A definitive outcome should be known before next week’s edition, where we aim to bring readers a full interview with the successful candidate.

In the meantime, updates can be tracked online via the ECQ website and its social media channels.

Mackay By-election Count as at 02 September

Candidate Count Percentage
BAKER, Anne 15,828 29.58%
DEGUARA, Andrew 7,662 14.32%
MILTON, Melissa 7,601 14.20%
CHRISTENSEN, Ian 4,817 9.00%
FISHER, Greg 4,121 7.70%
KEIOSKIE, Jeffrey 3,852 7.20%
DOYLE, Kimberly 3,957 7.39%
LOADER, Dion 3,626 6.78%
LAAS, Melanie 2,046 3.82%

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Anne Baker

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