If I m offered the position, I will take it, Mr Watson told
The Morning Bulletin late on Thursday afternoon. Cr Lynch departs after less than 12 months in the job. She secured 8.19 per cent of the vote at the 2020 election to seal the final spot at the council table, just ahead of Mr Watson with 8.07 per cent. In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, the council explained the process from here. The process of filling the councillor vacancy is prescribed at law and councillors will meet next week to decide to either proceed with a by-election or, have the Electoral Commission of Queensland administer a process of reaching out to the runner-up from the last election to determine if they would accept appointment, the council said.
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Early voting for the Rockhampton Regional Council Division 3 councillor by-election began on Monday.
The early voting is available at the James Lawrence Pavilion at the Rockhampton Showgrounds, with voting on weekdays from 9am to 5pm from Monday March 1, to Friday March 12.
The election day will be held on Saturday March 13, from 8am to 6pm, with booths at the Berserker Street State School and the Lakes Creek State School.
“The voting system is optional preferential, which means to make their vote count, electors can choose to number one, some, or all the five boxes on their ballot paper in their order of candidate preference,” Electoral Commission of Queensland Commissioner Pat Vidgen said.
Deanna Beatson will top the list, followed by Dave Bauer, Grant Mathers, Leyland Barnett, and Christian Shepherd.
Present at the Rockhampton Showgrounds for the draw were Ms Beatson with her daughters, as well as Mr Mathers, and Mr Barnett.
Mr Mathers, the brother of councillor Cherie Rutherford, said he had spent his whole life in division 3 and would listen to the concerns of its constituents.
But he began by speaking about road safety, crime, and the cost of living in Rockhampton.
“Cost of living is something that’s very important to me as well as a single dad with two lads still at home with me,” he said.
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The Electoral Commission of Queensland declared Councillor Tony Williams the mayor of Rockhampton Regional Council.
Commissioner Pat Vidgen said having 17 candidates meant majority percentages were small with the preference count key to the outcome.
âThe unprecedented number of candidates combined with the optional preferential voting system, meant the counting process through to the distribution of preferences required time to determine mathematical certainty for all the candidates,â he said.
âWith Cr Tony Williams being the successful mayoral candidate, and as he was elected unopposed at the local government elections in March, there will be a by-election as required by legislation within the next two months to fill his councillor role.
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The Electoral Commission of Queensland today began distributing preferences for Rockhampton’s mayoral by-election following Tuesday’s postal vote deadline.
It will now exclude from the count candidates with relatively low numbers of votes and distribute preferences to other candidates according to each ballot paper.
Those excluded today were Christopher Davies, Brett Williams, Remy McCamley, Bronwyn Laverty-Young, Leyland Barnett, Miranda Broadbent, Christian Shepherd, John Rewald, and Shane Latcham.
The elimination process continues until there are two candidates remaining and one of them has the majority of votes. electoral commission of queensland