16 October 2008

The New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC) takes this opportunity to inform the media of how and when they can access results for the State By-elections for Cabramatta, Lakemba, Port Macquarie andRyde to be held on Saturday 18 October 2008.

RESULTS

On election night, progressive figures for the four districts will be available on the NSWEC’s virtual tally room website accessible via www.elections.nsw.gov.au.

All ordinary votes cast on election day throughout the State will be counted and the results displayed progressively from 6.30 pm up to 11.30 pm.

The results on display on election night will ultimately represent the votes of approximately 85 per cent of the enrolled electors.

Results on the website will be updated progressively until the final result is declared on Thursday 23 October.

COUNTING

On Election Night, Saturday 18 October

The counting of the votes commences after the close of voting at 6.00pm on election day.

Election officials at each polling place will count the ordinary votes in the presence of any scrutineers who attend.

There will be two counts on election night.

First preference votes: The first preference votes for each candidate are counted. The results will be displayed on the virtual tally room website.

Notional distribution of preferences: A notional distribution of preferences takes place for the two candidates who the NSWEC believe are likely to be the final 2 candidates when preferences are distributed later in the week. If a Liberal/National, and Labor candidate are selected this is also termed a two party preferred count. These results will also be displayed on the virtual tally room website.

Note: This type of count only gives an indication of the result if the notional candidates are correctly identified. It is not an official distribution of preferences.

Declaration votes (i.e. postal, pre-poll and Declared Institutions votes) cast prior to election day and section/silent and absent votes cast on election day will be counted by the Returning Officer in each electoral district in the week after election day.  Results will continue to be updated on the NSWEC’s website from Sunday, 19 October 2008.

On Sunday 19 October 2008

On Sunday, all ballot papers will be recounted. The first preference and notional result of the check-count will be posted on the virtual tally room website. All absent votes held by Returning Officers (as well as early votes cast for other districts and postal votes handed in at polling places) are sorted to each elector’s home electoral district in readiness for transfer. Under law, the Returning Officer for each electoral district is responsible for counting all the votes for that district.

On Monday 20, Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 October 2008

All absent, pre-poll and postal votes received by other districts are transferred to their home district for entry into the count. The deadline for receipt of postal votes is 6pm Wednesday 22 October 2008. Results will continue to be updated on the NSWEC’s website.

On Thursday 23 October 2008

When all votes have been received the final distribution of preferences takes place. The result is officially declared by the Returning Officer.

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Media contact: Richard Carroll, Ph: 02 9290 5936

richard.carroll@elections.nsw.gov.au