State election 2023: Coffs Harbour ballot drawn
The order in which candidates will appear on your voting paper for Coffs Harbour at this year’s state election has been revealed – as has the identity of a surprise seventh contender.
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If politics is won by those who turn up, as they say, then the state election for the seat of Coffs Harbour will be a two-horse race.
A ballot draw to determine the order of candidates on the lower house voting paper was held at Coffs Harbour Showground this morning.
The Nationals Gurmesh Singh and Labor’s Tony Judge were the only runners present.
It was widely speculated that six candidates would put their name forward for election.
But a surprise seventh candidate emerged in Ruth Cully for the Sustainable Australia Party – Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption at the closing of nominations at noon on Wednesday.
The ballot draw result is: (1) Mr Judge, (2) Mr Singh, (3) Ms Cully, (4) Tihema ‘Tia’ Elliston – Legalise Cannabis Party, (5) Sally Townley – Independent, (6) Kellie Pearce – Animal Justice Party, (7) Tim Nott – Greens.
Election manager for Coffs Harbour John Clark, a veteran of overseeing state and local government elections in the area, explained the ballot draw process as he dropped plastic vials each containing the name of a candidate into a chiller bag.
“I hope you took your lunch out of there first,” chortled former long-time Coffs Harbour MP, Andrew Fraser.
“It (the bag) would be all right for a six-pack,” Mr Clark shot back.
It was coincidental that the only two candidates present drew lots #1 and #2 in the ballot.
Mr Singh, the incumbent who won the seat at the 2019 election, noted the first three out of the bag were all from Woolgoolga.
The remainder listed Coffs as their address, except for Ms Townley of Bellingen.
It is considered advantageous – even if only marginally so – to draw the number one spot on the ballot paper to collect the ‘donkey vote’ (those who just write the number ‘1’ in the first box on the paper).
Mr Judge said he was surprised only two of the runners for the electorate in the March 25 NSW election fronted for the draw – and by the addition of a seventh candidate.
“I was (taken aback), considering at the ballot for the last council election the whole field turned up,” he said.
On Ms Cully’s entry, Mr Judge said: “I did see a corflute (for her) yesterday”.
Mr Singh said he expected the state election result to be “tight”, but he believed the Coalition Government had been a “good government for four years”.
“I’ve worked hard and will continue to work hard right to the very end,” he said.
Mr Judge said he has been campaigning for six months – attending market stalls and doorknocking – to gain an understanding of the community’s needs and wants.
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