Mitchell Pakes has resigned as Councillor, resulting in a casual vacancy on the Council and prompting a countback of the recent Local Government election for Ward 3 of Shoalhaven City.
Information has been provided to the NSW Electoral Commissioner to fill the vacancy as soon as possible.
Following the resolution of Council, the process for replacement will be a countback election.
In summary, the timeline for a countback election will be as follows:
1. The Electoral Commissioner is notified of a casual vacancy.
2. A Returning Officer is appointed within 14 days of the notification of the vacancy.
3. Casual vacancy notices are issued within 14 days of the appointment of the returning officer.
4. Where a candidate is interested, they must submit a formal application to the returning officer. The application period closes after 10 days of the notices being issued.
5. The countback is conducted at least 14 days from when the vacancy notices are issued and no more than 49 days from when the casual vacancy occurred.
If there are no eligible candidates, an attendance by-election must be held. If there is only one eligible candidate, that candidate is elected. If there are multiple eligible candidates, a countback election is conducted.
