The person who will replace Liberal Giulia Jones in the Legislative Assembly will be known on Monday, June 20 following a computer-assisted countback process, the ACT Electoral Commission says.
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Candidates who ran unsuccessfully in Murrumbidgee in the 2020 election have 10 days from Friday to inform the Electoral Commission of their intention to stand in the countback process.
Electoral Commissioner Damian Cantwell said the candidates must declare their intention to contest the vacancy by noon on June 20, and at 12.30pm a computer counting program would be used to determine which candidate would be elected to the Assembly.
Mrs Jones, a former deputy opposition leader who had been on leave for much of the parliamentary year, formally resigned from the Assembly on Thursday, June 2. Mrs Jones is now the chief executive of Painaustralia, a national peak body focused on improving the quality of life of people living with pain.
The countback process for the Assembly involves recounting the ballot papers that were received by the vacating member, which the ACT Electoral Commission says is done to "determine which candidate was the next most favoured candidate chosen by the voters who elected the vacating MLA".
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There are 24 candidates who are eligible to stand in the countback process, however it is expected the Canberra Liberals' Amardeep Singh would be the likely person to be elected once Mrs Jones' ballots are redistributed.
Independent candidate Fiona Carrick, who is the president of the Woden Valley Community Council, came sixth in the original count, missing out on an Assembly seat despite having attracted more first-preference votes than Mrs Jones.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
