Councillor countback next week

A NEW Frankston councillor will be elected next week.

Former councillor Steven Hughes resigned from Frankston Council in December. To fill the vacancy, the Victorian Electoral Commission will conduct a countback on Monday, 15 January.

The North-West Ward countback will take place online at 10am. Votes will be redistributed among eligible candidates from the ward who stood at the 2020 local government election.

The unsuccessful North-West Ward candidates from 2020 included former mayors Glenn Aitken and Michael O’Reilly.  Justin Turner, Jocelyn Torres, Alan Middleton, Stan Doric, Gabriel Norris, Banson Wong, and Jeff Shelley were the other candidates.

The VEC says that the candidate who archives a quota using the proportional representation method of counting will win. Election manager Kathy Georgiou said “the candidate who gets the quota will be elected. If no candidate reaches the quota, the candidate with the highest number of countback votes will be elected.”

A result is expected within minutes of the countback. To watch visit vec.vic.gov.au from 9.30am on 15 January.