ACROSS the state of Victoria, voting came to a close in local council elections at 6pm on Friday 25 October.
The nine candidates who campaigned in Mansfield Shire, competing for five places on council, will now have to patiently wait for officials to undertake the count before a new council is declared.
Any ballots returned to the election office or entering the postal system after the Friday 6pm cut-off will not be counted towards the final vote.
The count will be finalised as of Friday 1 November when the final eligible votes, currently still making their way through the postal system, arrive.
Extraction of ballot papers from envelopes commenced Saturday 26 October, with counting commencing on Monday 28 October and lasting three weeks.
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All results remain provisional until official declaration ceremonies are held, at which point Mansfield Shire will declare a new council of five councillors from the nine nominated candidates.
The retirements of Cr Paul Sladdin and Cr Mark Holcombe mean there will be at least two new faces at council meetings going forwards.
As of end of day, Friday October 25, 78.52 per cent of the 8176 enrolled to vote in Mansfield Shire have returned their ballot.
The overall statewide turnout rate in 2020 was 81.47 per cent, with Mansfield Shire at 79.83 per cent.
In 2020, of the 10,205 shire ratepayers enrolled, 8147 participated in the vote.
7692 votes were counted while 455 were informal votes, meaning the ballot paper was either not completed or completed incorrectly, and were not counted towards the final vote.
The final turnout for 2024 will be known after the close of the postal vote receipt period on Friday 1 November.
Though the shire is amongst the fastest growing in the state, the number of ratepayers enrolled to vote has experienced a significant 20 per cent drop off from 2020 when 10,205 were enrolled.
State government changes to the enrolment process meant 3494 non-resident ratepayers were removed from the roll in 2024, though still eligible, they were required to re-enrol to retain their right to vote.
Many did not and the electorate's vote numbers have consequently shrunk by over 2000.
Provisional results will be published on the VEC website as they become available following completion of preference distributions or computer calculations, with results slated to be available between Wednesday 6 and Friday 8 November.
Declaration ceremonies are expected to be held in all localities across Victoria between November 8-15.
