The Electoral Commission has warned it is still too soon to declare a winner in the Moreton Bay City Council byelection, just one day after Labor’s Ali France congratulated the independent candidate.
The byelection for Division 11 was sparked after the resignation of long-serving councillor Darren Grimwade in July, who announced he was quitting to support his wife Lisa as she pursued a career in outback Queensland.
On Monday, France – who toppled opposition leader Peter Dutton in Dickson at the federal election – took to Facebook to congratulate independent candidate Ellie Smith, who has secured 48.78 per cent of the count so far.
“Congrats Ellie Smith on your election to Division 11, looking forward to working with you,” France wrote.
However, Smith said while it was “looking very promising”, there were thousands of votes still to be returned.
“There are still over 12,000 votes trickling back into the ECQ office so I’ll let them do their job before announcing anything but I’m thrilled at the support so far and looking forward to working with you and Terry Young MP in service of our wonderful local communities,” Smith wrote.
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Labor MP for Pine Rivers Nikki Boyd also sent her congratulations, and said she would “call it early”.
However, the Electoral Commission of Queensland has advised the result is not yet decided, and may not be declared until after the cut-off for return of postal ballots on October 7 for the full postal byelection.
Last night, about 55 per cent of votes had been counted, and votes through the mail were still arriving.
“The election is currently too close to call, and I encourage all voters to return their ballot paper as soon as possible,” electoral commissioner Pat Vidgen said.
Smith also ran in Dickson at the May federal election as a Climate 200-backed candidate, securing 12 per cent of the first preference count.
Division 11 includes Narangba, Kurwongbah, Dayboro, Samford Village, Samford Valley and Mount Samson.
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