Barkly Regional Council early vote count gives glimpse of what renewed council may look like
A besieged council in the Territory’s Barkly region is set to get a fresh start with a new council, with some clear winners emerging as votes continue to be counted.
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Clear winners are emerging in the race for a fresh start for council in the Territory’s heartland as vote counting continues.
Only months after all elected members were sacked, locals are starting to get a hint of who could be representing them in the next Barkly Regional Council.
The council’s election was held on November 2, with counting continuing as the NT electoral commission awaits 149 postal votes to be returned.
Early counts from election night showed Sid Vasquist leading the race to become Mayor with 675 votes – 438 votes more than Barb Shaw.
Ms Shaw is currently sitting in second place in the mayoral race with 237 votes.
However, for the wards, the early counts had some candidates barely cracking double figures.
There are number of vacancies in the Patta and Kuwarrangu ward.
Early indications have Valerie Taylor set to win the Alpurrurulam ward.
The Patta ward remains open with five vacancies, with Greg Marlow leading the vote count with 264, while Sharen Lake, Valda Napurrula Shannon, Dianne Stokes, and Nungarayi Shirley Lewis all in the race for a seat.
The two vacancies in the Kuwarrangu look set to fall to Lennie Barton and Ben Neade, with only two votes separating the two.
Previously, due to the amount of candidates machting the amount of vacancies, Noel Hayes, Andrew Tsavaris, Darryl Rex Morton and Zacieus Long were elected by default to the Alyawarr Ward.
A total of 1,219 votes were cast by the 4,503 registered voters.
Of those votes, 78 were informal.
The full results will be published following the distribution of preferences on November 15.
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