Election Weary Residents - A No-Vote

Almost 50 per cent of division 2 residents failed to vote for the Division 2 Councillor Seat on election day last Saturday.

Only 2,426 people voted out of the 4,155 residents who were registered to vote, with just 1606 attending the polling station at Whitsunday Shopping Centre in person.

The people that did not vote will now receive a $143.75 fine, after an increase came into place in July this year.

This is the third time Division 2 residents have had to vote since May this year.

The Federal Election took place in May and was followed by a local government vote for a new mayor when previous Mayor Andrew Willcox vacated his seat when he successfully became the Federal Member for Dawson.

Then, when Al Grundy shocked everyone by resigning last month, a third election was needed to fill the Division 2 Councillor seat.

We are now almost a week after voting and the election remains too close to call, with the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) saying postal votes must be counted and can be received up to December 13.

At this stage, Clay Bauman is in the lead with 36.29 per cent of the votes, followed by Andy Camm on 27.04, Chris Harvey on 21.24 and Dan Popovich on 15.33 per cent.

In the coming days, Mr Popovich’s second votes will be distributed according to the ‘optional preferential voting system’ and allocated to the other candidates.

To be declared the winner, a candidate requires 50 per cent plus 1 of the total formal votes counted.  

“While the leading candidate is currently ahead on first preference votes, this can, and often does, change when preferences are distributed,” Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said.

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