By MIKE SMITH and SHAUN McMAHON

IN Mansfield Shire, where nine candidates are vying for five council seats, a team of scrutineers has been working steadily in the shire election office, carefully opening envelopes and counting votes since the polls closed.

After sorting through thousands of ballots, they’ve provided a progressive count.

So far 5819 eligible ballots have been counted.

The current first preference leaders are James Tehan (1505), Steve Rabie (1164), Mandy Treasure (757), Bonnie Clark (665), and Tim Berenyi (585), followed by Michael Whytcross (438), Nick Cooper (269), Kammy Cordner Hunt (235), and Rohan Webb (201).

This is a progressive count, so the vote tally is ongoing and subject to change as more votes and preferences are counted - the latter in particular potentially playing a big part in the final outcome, which might look different to what the first preference tally currently reflects.

Under the proportional voting system, each candidate must reach a quota to be elected.

Based on current figures, both James Tehan and Steve Rabie have likely met this requirement already, meaning preferences will play a role in deciding the remaining three spots.

Surplus votes for candidates exceeding the quota are allocated to their preferences, while candidates with the fewest votes are progressively excluded and their preferences redistributed until the remaining three positions meet the required quotas.

This process means the initial first preference tally may not match the final outcome.

While the count as of October 31 provides insight into the direction of the election, a number of votes remain to be counted.

The counted ballots so far represent the first of two batches for the 2024 Mansfield Shire Council election.

The second batch, yet to be counted at the time of print, includes ballots that were still in transit at the close of the deadline, and upon receipt will be counted at the election office and added to form the final tally.

Following this, results will be considered preliminary, and it is expected an announcement of results will take place on Thursday, November 7, at the local election office, followed by an official announcement at Mansfield Shire Council the following day.

All outcomes remain provisional until the official declaration ceremonies, at which point Mansfield Shire will formally announce its new council of five councillors from the nine nominated candidates.