Farrell all but elected

Craig Farrell

LABOR'S Craig Farrell had "almost certainly" been elected to replace Michael Aird in the Legislative Council, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission announced today. With 142 postal votes still outstanding, the commission conducted a provisional distribution of preferences on the basis of the likelihood that Deirdre Flint cannot bridge the 124 vote gap to Ray Williams.

The provisional distribution of preferences shows that Craig Farrell (56.64%) leads Jenny Branch (43.36%) and that Mr Farrell has almost certainly been elected as the new Member for Derwent. It is not possible to declare the poll until the number of outstanding votes falls below the gap between Mrs Flint and Mr Williams, or until the deadline for return of postal votes is reached on May 17.

In the provisional cut up, Mrs Flint was the next candidate to have their preferences distributed, with 1511 going to Jenny Branch, 1016 to Ray Williams and 817 to Craig Farrell. The new totals were Farrell 9174, Branch 5973 and Williams 4484.

The final step in the process saw Mr Williams' preferences distributed, with 2523 going to Ms Branch and 1925 to Mr Farrell. The final tallies were Farrell 11,099 and Branch 8496, with Mr Farrell provisionally elected. It is highly unlikely that the outstanding postal votes will alter this outcome.