Four former mayors of Hepburn Shire are leading on first preferences at the completion of counting Group A votes in the 2024 Council election.
Group A votes are all those delivered to the election office or mailed and received by the close of the office on October 25th. The Group A first preference allocation was finalised on Thursday, October 31st. The VEC will continue counting Group B votes, those mailed by the deadline and received after the October 25th and before the end of November 1st, on Friday.
Don Henderson (2079 first preference votes), Brian Hood (1315), Lesley Hewitt (878) and Tim Drylie (732) are leading the count.
| Total Group A First Preference Votes | ||
| 1st Preference | % of votes | |
| HENDERSON Don | 2079 | 24.19% |
| HOOD Brian | 1315 | 15.30% |
| HEWITT Lesley | 878 | 10.21% |
| DRYLIE Tim | 732 | 8.52% |
| HOCKEY Pat | 642 | 7.47% |
| CLARK Tony | 549 | 6.39% |
| CORNISH Shirley | 512 | 5.96% |
| POROCHOWSKY Christian | 441 | 5.13% |
| SEDGEMAN Derek | 394 | 4.58% |
| STONE Cameron | 363 | 4.22% |
| WINFIELD-GRAY Bernie | 352 | 4.09% |
| PETTERSSON Benny | 339 | 3.94% |
| Total | 8596 | |
Final results will not be available until November 8th when preferences are distributed. For the count, each ballot is entered manually into a computer. Allocation of preferences will be done by computer and the declaration of the election will occur on November 8th.
To be elected a candidate must receive a quota, which for this election is 12.5% of the total votes cast after distribution of preferences.
The VEC reported in September 2024 that there were 13,232 eligible voters in Hepburn Shire including 12,854 from the state roll and an additional 378 owner rate payers (property owners living outside the Shire). Therefore 65.0% of the total possible votes have been counted.
This is a reduction of 11% from the 2020 election. Low voter turnout has been reported for many local government elections across the state.
In 2020, 84 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. If a similar percentage of ballots have been cast in this election, there should be approximately 2500 Group B votes.
Assuming that the Group B votes will reflect the same voting distribution, two candidates, Don Henderson and Brian Hood, will achieve a quota and be elected on first preferences.
The other five positions will rely on the allocation of preferences. This is a complicated process given the new seven-councillor undivided shire system. Using candidate “how to vote” recommendations as an inexact guide to the flow of preferences, The Wombat Post estimates that Lesley Hewitt will be elected and Tim Drylie will almost certainly achieve a quota.
The last three positions will likely be from Pat Hockey, Tony Clark, Shirley Cornish and Cameron Stone.
Although not obvious from the table, Cameron Stone is likely to benefit strongly from the flow of preferences from Don Henderson who placed him third on his “how to vote” recommendation. We estimate 1200 to 1400 preferences from Henderson will be reallocated once he achieves a quota. Therefore the Henderson “excess” preferences could elect Stone if voters follow the Henderson’s recommendation.
Tony Clark’s chances are also enhanced as he will be favoured by the “donkey vote” (numbering a ballot from 1 to 12 starting at the top) which may be significant in this election.
All will be revealed when the computer button is pressed on the 8th November.
