THE count for the new council to lead the Armidale region is underway after voters went to the polls on Saturday, December 4.
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Across the local government area, 19,214 residential and non-residential electors were enrolled to vote as of October 25.
At 7am Monday, December 6, 6,074 votes had been counted since polls closed at 6pm Saturday.
First preference vote counting commenced for the positions of councillor and there are 11 councillors to be elected from 32 candidates.
Read also:
- Read what the candidate stand for here
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Ahead of the grouped votes so far is the Debra O'Brien led Australian Labor Party with six candidates who collectively have 16.01 per cent of the formal votes. Next is Margaret O'Connors group with six candidates making up 13.65 per cent and close behind is the Greens championed by Dorothy Robinson with the six candidates grabbing 12.72 per cent.
Ungrouped votes made up 57,62 of the formal votes counted, and of those the leader to date is independent runner Sam Coupland with 11.95 per cent of the votes.
Mr Coupland said his financial acumen makes him a strong candidate for councillor.
"I am business savvy and an experienced negotiator which will be essential for council to move beyond current tribalism and reach consensus on the big decisions that are in the best interests of the region's future," he told the Express in the lead up to election day.
Not far behind Mr Coupland is council stalwart Jon Galletly with 8.01 per cent of the formal votes.
Mr Galletly said the single biggest issue facing the region was renewable energy.
"Armidale is slap bang in the middle of the Renewable Energy Zone(REZ)," Mr Galletly told the Express.
"There is not a lot of difference between the REZ and the mining industry, they can either make or break a town or region."
Todd Redwood (5.61 percent) and Steve Mepham (5.46 per cent) are another two independents who are looking strong, closely followed by the only Aboriginal candidate Brad Widders who has a healthy 4.84 per cent of formal votes.
Votes are also being tallied on the referendum question :Do you support a reduction in the number of councillors for Armidale Regional Council from eleven to nine?
From the 2,515 votes counted a strong majority of 71.32 per cent said yes, they are in favour of the reduction.
Return of completed postal vote certificates closes on December 17.
The distribution of preferences will start on December 21 with the progressive declaration of results through until December 23.
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