Labor backbench veteran Mary Porter will formally resign from the Assembly on Friday, sparking a countback expected to see lawyer Jayson Hinder elected in Ginninderra.
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Ms Porter gave her valedictory speech on Thursday, bringing to a close nearly 12 years of service in territory politics. After she hands her resignation to Speaker Vicki Dunne, the ACT Electoral Commission will be asked to launch a countback process in which Ms Porter's own votes from the 2012 poll will elect her successor.
Electoral Commissioner Phil Green said the countback would happen early next month, meaning a new member could be elected in time for the next sitting period which starts on March 8.
"Candidates who stood in the electorate unsuccessfully at the last election will be eligible to apply for the casual vacancy," he said.
"They will have 10 days from the date of the notice … to actively apply for the countback.
"After the 10 days, we will declare the names of the candidates who are contesting the vacancy at the Assembly and then immediately run the computer program that will work out who the new member will be," he said.
"At that point we will know the new member, and then a day or two later we will have the official declaration of the poll which is when their term formally begins."
The new member will contest the October election as an incumbent.
One matter remains outstanding for Ms Porter. A peer-review report on her signature issue of euthanasia and end-of-life issues has been handed to Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Health Minister Simon Corbell but is yet to be released to the public.
It follows a three-week study tour to Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium in 2013, where Ms Porter met with patients, legislators, doctors and ethicists to discuss euthanasia laws.
Mr Hinder is member of the party's Right faction and polled fifth among Labor candidates in 2012. He is expected to win on a countback because the fourth-placed Glen McCrea is no longer living in Canberra. Ms Porter's preferences stick largely in the Labor column.
A former mechanic, Mr Hinder sold his small business to become a lawyer at age 30. Well known as the chairman of the Bendigo Community Bank and as a Labor player, the father of three lives in Giralang, which is being shifted to the Gungahlin electorate.
Last year he said Gungahlin was a possible battleground for the election.
The countback will be the third performed since the last ACT election. In 2013, Liberal Nicole Lawder was elected following the resignation of former opposition leader Zed Seselja.
Last year, newly appointed minister Meegan Fitzharris filled the vacancy created when former chief minister Katy Gallagher resigned from the Assembly. Both Ms Gallagher and Mr Seselja moved to the Senate.
