Vacancy within Colac Otway Shire Council
February 7, 2023
A countback procedure to fill an extraordinary vacancy within Colac Otway Shire Council will take place at 10 am on Wednesday 1 March, due to the resignation of Councillor Jamie Bell.
The vacancy will be filled by a countback of all formal votes from the 2020 Colac Otway Shire Council election (instead of voters voting in a by-election). Votes will be redistributed to candidates who were unsuccessful at that general election, and who remain eligible to participate in the countback, to fill the extraordinary vacancy.
The countback is based on the proportional representation method of counting. ‘The candidate who achieves the quota will be elected. If no participating candidate achieves the quota, following the distribution of votes to participating candidates, the candidate with the highest number of countback votes will be elected,’ Election Manager Charmaine Morel said.
The countback will be held online via webinar. A link to the countback will be made available on the VEC website from 9:30 am on Wednesday 1 March, at vec.vic.gov.au.
Candidates and interested parties may observe the countback.
The result will be published online at vec.vic.gov.au.
Council Enquiries
(03) 5232 9400