Greens, Labor vying for Clark’s last seat

Labor and the Greens remain in a race for the seventh and final seat in Clark, while the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is still pushing for a berth in Lyons, as the state election count continues.

In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said telephone votes and outof-division ballots cast in the pre-poll period had now been counted in Clark, Franklin,

Bass and Braddon. However, the count in Lyons “still has some way to go”, according to electoral commissioner Andrew Hawkey, who said a “remarkable” 9000 out-ofdivision votes had been cast in the sprawling electorate.

“Work will continue over the coming hours and a further update will be published once counts are completed for each division,” he said.

As at 4.33pm on Thursday, the Greens had 1.66 quotas in Clark, compared to Labor’s 2.44, meaning Greens candidate Helen Burnet and Labor hopefuls Stuart Benson and John Kamara remained in the hunt for the last seat.

Meanwhile, in Lyons, the JLN’s Andrew Jenner and Troy Pfitzner continue to battle it out with Labor’s Richard Goss and Ben Dudman for the final spot.

Mr Hawkey said the first ballot rechecks for the election were completed on Wednesday and second rechecks were “well under way” and would continue on Monday.

“While rechecks are occurring, all ballot papers remain in polling place bundles,” he said.

“In preparation for the Hare-Clark count, these will be amalgamated to bring ballot papers together for each candidate. This process will occur on Tuesday.”