THE Derwent Valley Council will not have a new mayor until late February. Tasmanian electoral commissioner Andrew Hawkey has today announced that by-elections will be held by postal voting between January 25 and February 22.
“Following the resignation of mayor Ben Shaw on Saturday, December 11, by-elections conducted by postal ballot are required for the positions of councillor and mayor,” Mr Hawkey said this afternoon. “The successful candidates will serve until the ordinary elections to be held later in 2022,” he said.
Voters will be asked to elect a new councillor and a new mayor, and it will not necessarily be the same person in both roles. Deputy mayor Jessica Cosgrove will be acting mayor until the result of the by-election is known.
It is a quirk of the Local Government Act that councillor vacancies are filled by recount except for when the councillor is also the mayor. In such cases, a by-election is held to separately elect a new councillor and a new mayor.
- By-election timetable
- Nominations open 9am Monday 10 January 2022
- Enrolment closes 6pm Thursday 13 January 2022
- Nominations close noon Thursday 20 January 2022
- Nominations announced noon Friday 21 January 2022
- Ballot material delivered to electors by post 25-28 January 2022
- Close of poll 2pm Tuesday 22 February 2022
- Counting starts 9am Wednesday 23 February 2022
One Comment
Let’s hope the community is well informed of this process and ballot papers are sent out to all, previously people have complained they did not receive papers in the mail or made aware they were available at the council chambers..