14 October 1999

Polling Proceeds smoothly - more than 48,000 electors have their say

The Electoral Commissioner, Mr Bill Gray, said that polling in Saturday's ATSIC election had proceeded smoothly.

"A total of 1044 candidates contested 387 vacancies on 35 regional councils across Australia," Mr Gray said.

"Indications from polling officials show that there was a good turnout of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander electors who wanted to have their say in the composition of their local Regional Council."

"While the final result will not be available for some days, early indications are that approximately 48,700 electors cast their vote in this non-compulsory election," Mr Gray said. A total of 49,550 votes were cast at the 1996 ATSIC Regional Council elections.

At this year's election, polls were not held in nine Wards. Six Wards were uncontested because the number of candidates equalled the number of vacancies. In addition, electors in three other Wards will have the opportunity to cast their vote in supplementary elections in December 1999. Therefore, a final 1999 figure showing the exact number of electors who voted will not be available until then.

Mr Gray said that it would also be some time before results were known because of the voting system used at this election. The ATSIC election had been conducted using a proportional representation system similar to that used for the Senate at federal elections. Under this system, a candidate must obtain a proportion, or quota, of the votes to be elected.

"Now that polling is completed, our task is to provide accurate results as quickly as possible within the available timeframe," Mr Gray said.

Mr Gray said that the AEC will publish comprehensive results of the election once the count is completed.

Further information

Brien Hallett 02 6271 4415