First of all, thank you so much to the residents of Keysborough South Ward who have voted for me to be their Councillor for the next four years. I am beyond grateful for your trust and faith in me to represent our lovely ward. While I am new to Council, I promise to learn quick and work hard in order to be a Councillor that is deserving of you. I appreciate your patience and understanding while I shake off my sea legs in my first few months as Councillor!
Now that I’ve been sworn in, I can officially start acting as a Councillor.
It doesn’t feel that long ago when the votes were coming in for Group A* and I was anxiously waiting for my lead scrutineer** to give me an update during the first preference manual count. This is arguably the most important part of an election as it allows us to validate the process (by making sure everything is done fairly and with transparency) but it also allows us to sense check how well we are doing.
I remember vividly getting a call from my lead scrutineer* and she said something along the lines of “you’ve got in the bag – your pile is nearly as big as everyone else’s combined.” I had finished the day with 3135 votes out of 6593. This meant that out of the votes received so far, 48.57% of those votes were for me.
I was in shock. As a first-time running candidate, I had never expected such strong support. I was hopeful and I was bashfully hoping for at least 27% of the first primary votes, and I had achieved that with plenty leftover. Despite all my efforts in putting together my material, door knocking, and speaking to residents, you really don’t know how people will vote or if they will even consider voting for you.
But despite having such a strong vote, I was still anxiously waiting for Group B votes*** to be counted the week after. Thankfully, I ended up receiving a total of 3703 first preference votes, resulting in a grand total of 47.52% of first preference votes. I just needed another 2.5% votes to win the seat and was able to achieve this after Geraldine’s votes were distributed.
It’s an amazing result and I’m still pinching myself all this time later. Now, it’s time to get work!
* Group A votes are the votes that were received by the close of vote on 25 October.
** Scrutineers are volunteers who observe the handling of ballots by election officials. It’s another way to make sure everything is done in a fair and impartial manner, with transparency and integrity. They are able to formally challenge ballots during a manual count (first preference and preference distribution) if they believe there has been an error.
*** Group B votes are the votes that were received after the close of vote on 25 October but were posted by the deadline.