Balance to shift with at least two women set to become Orange councillors

Based on the NSW Electoral Commission progressive quota, which is 1841 votes, independent Melanie McDonell has all-but secured one of the 11 seats in the Orange City Council chamber while the number two candidate on Cr Jason Hamling's ticket, Tammy Greenhalgh, will go through if, as tipped, Cr Hamling maintains his position at the top of the mayoral election.

If Cr Hamling is declared mayor that will also bring number three candidate on his ticket, Sarah McGregor, into calculations.

Check counting started on Monday with Cr Hamling's ticket collecting 2961 votes for a 1.61 quota.

Ratepayers' lead candidate Frances Kinghorne could also snare a position on council with her ticket drawing 1322 votes or .74 per cent of the quota.

At lunchtime on Friday Tony Mileto's ticket was leading the count with 3474 votes (1.71 quota), which puts the number two candidate on the ticket, Jack Evans, in a strong position for a debut term on council.

Should Cr Mileto overtake Cr Hamling for mayor, his number three Bernadette Wood will also be a chance.

Cr Mileto is running second to Cr Hamling in the mayoral vote with 19.36 cent of first preference votes compared to 20.93 per cent.

Apart from Crs Hamling and Mileto, Cr Kevin Duffy and Cr Jeff Whitton, are expected to maintain their positions on the incoming council. Cr Scott Munro, who stood for re-election ungrouped, is unlikely.

Also unofficially securing positions are Shooters Fishers and Farmers candidate Glenn Floyd with 2707 group votes for (1.47 quota) and Dr Steve Peterson with 2284 votes for his ticket (1.24 quota).

The Greens have collected 2029 votes (1.10 quota) to also gain an unofficial place for David Mallard.

Orange has an electoral enrolment of 30109 with 24533 votes counted. Postal voting closes at 6pm on December 17. By comparison, the participation rate for Orange at the 2017 local government elections was 83.16 per cent (total 24,928 votes).

The informal rate, which was almost 13 per cent, has dropped to 9.9 per cent.

The check count process continues up to the close of postal votes at 6pm, December 17. The distribution of preferences to determine the mayor and councillors will occur in the week starting Monday, December 20.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

HAVE YOUR SAY

Send a letter to the editor using the form below