Tasmania state election: Jeremy Rockliff, Rebecca White, Rosalie Woodruff and Michael Ferguson soon to be officially re-elected

The election count continues with four candidates set to be officially re-elected on first preferences soon. The latest

The continuing count of votes cast in the 2024 state election will confirm the re-election of the first candidates as the count of the primary vote is finalised.

The cut-off for the receipt of postal votes passed at 10am on Tuesday.

Final first preference votes counts to be posted on the Tasmanian Electoral Commission's website on Tuesday night.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff looked set to secure a quota in his own right in Braddon, as did his deputy Michael Ferguson in Bass, Labor’s Rebecca White in Lyons and Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff in Franklin.

The four will be the first of the 35 members of the new House of Assembly to be officially elected, while the remainder will be determined by the distribution of surplus quotas and by preference counts.

Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey said the count would proceed with the distribution of excess quotas before moving on to the exclusion of the lowest-polling candidates and the distribution of preferences.

“Three divisions — Bass, Braddon and Clark — are aiming to commence the distribution of preferences this evening,” he said on Tuesday.

“In Bass and Braddon, this will begin with distributing surplus votes for candidates elected on first preferences.

“In the division of Clark, as no one was elected on first preferences, this will commence with the exclusion of candidates with the fewest votes.

“Franklin and Lyons will start distributing preferences tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

The statewide rate of informal voting has increased slightly to 6.31 per cent from 5.13 per cent in 2021.

The final results of the election are not expected to be known until the end of this week or early next week, Mr Hawkey said.

— DAVID KILLICK

State election: Latest details from count in Clark, Lyons

Labor and the Greens remain in a race for the seventh and final seat in Clark, while the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is still pushing for a berth in Lyons, as the state election count continues.

In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said telephone votes and out-of-division ballots cast in the pre-poll period had now been counted in Clark, Franklin, Bass and Braddon.

However, the count in Lyons “still has some way to go”, according to electoral commissioner Andrew Hawkey, who said a “remarkable” 9000 out-of-division votes had been cast in the sprawling electorate.

Tasmanian Electoral Commission continued to count votes on Thursday. Picture: Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

“Work will continue over the coming hours and a further update will be published once counts are completed for each division,” he said.

As at 4.33pm on Thursday, the Greens had 1.66 quotas in Clark, compared to Labor’s 2.44, meaning Greens candidate Helen Burnet and Labor hopefuls Stuart Benson and John Kamara remained in the hunt for the last seat.

Meanwhile, in Lyons, the JLN’s Andrew Jenner and Troy Pfitzner continue to battle it out with Labor’s Richard Goss and Ben Dudman for the final spot.

Mr Hawkey said the first ballot rechecks for the election were completed on Wednesday and second rechecks were “well under way” and would continue on Monday.

“While rechecks are occurring, all ballot papers remain in polling place bundles,” he said.

“In preparation for the Hare-Clark count, these will be amalgamated to bring ballot papers together for each candidate. This process will occur on Tuesday and may take a significant part of that day.”

— ROB INGLIS