Federal Election 2025: Battle for Bradfield ongoing as count narrows to just 59 votes

The final seat in NSW to be decided remains up in the air, but reports of a recount have been dismissed.

Nicolette Boele and Gisele Kapterian (right) are in a tight battle for the seat of Bradfield.

A small batch of absent and declaration votes will get the election watchdog closer to a decision in the key seat of Bradfield where the Liberals are locked into a knife’s edge contest with a Teal challenger.

The votes will help give a clearer picture in the seat where Liberal Gisele Kapterian leads by just 80 votes as of this afternoon.

The seat has been a rollercoaster for both sides with Ms Kapterian initially leading by more than 200 votes at the start of the week before the gap closed considerably on Tuesday night.

Both Sky News and the ABC have called the seat for the Liberals but the AEC has not made its decision.

Reports of a recount in the north shore seat have been dismissed by the Australian Electoral Commission which said the standard process was still ongoing.

The AEC counts votes three times.

On Wednesday morning, the commission was waiting for absent and declaration pre-poll votes cast in ballots at a considerable distance from the electorate that have only now returned to their polling booths.

The AEC will only do a recount if the final margin between the two candidates is less than a 100 votes.

The only other way to secure a recount is if either party has a strong reason to believe a mistake was made.

There have been reports that Teal challenger Nicolette Boele had considered taking action in the Court of Dispute of Returns — the election arm of the High Court.

Any action at the CDR also needs to be backed by claims that an error was made.

The AEC has not yet received any indications of errors in its count in Bradfield.

Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian talking to voters in Chatswood. Picture: Julian Andrews

“The AEC counts all votes three times, if it’s under 100 then we will do an automatic recount but if not there needs to be a good reason,” an AEC spokesman said.

“There is one more round of postal votes and remote voting to be counted today.”

Ms Kapterian was not in Asquith for the count and instead made her way to Canberra to vote in the contest which saw Sussan Ley installed as the Liberal Party’s first female leader.

In a curious twist - one of the people seen assisting Ms Boele’s team in the count over the past few days holds a senior position at the Reserve Bank. The RBA has confirmed the individual has been on unpaid leave for more than a year.

The Liberal Party has never lost Bradfield and the seat was vacated after the retirement of long-time MP Paul Fletcher.
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Originally published as Federal Election 2025: Battle for Bradfield ongoing as count narrows to just 59 votes