UPDATE 5PM: Matthew Garwood has been elected as the new mayor of Launceston.
Garwood will now serve until the next ordinary election of the Council in 2026/7.
UPDATE 2PM: All first preference votes for Launceston’s new mayor have now been counted.
Matthew Garwood remains first with 38.21% of the vote and has a strong lead over second place Andrea Dawkins at 23.03%.
Other candidates trailing behind include Alan Harris at 14.54% and George Razay at 13.18%.
The Tasmania Electoral Commission say as no candidate has received a majority of the vote, fifth-place Tim Walker at 11.04% will now be excluded from the count.
EARLIER: Votes for Launceston’s new mayor are being counted this morning.
Matthew Garwood currently leads with nearly 40% of the vote, followed by Andrea Dawkins at 21%.
Speaking on Hobart radio this morning, Tasmania’s Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey said around a third of the votes have currently been counted.
Hawkey said the current count gives a “good indication” of the spread as it currently sits.
“We will hopefully have all first preferences counted by around midday and then as it looks like here, we’ll have to exclude one or two candidates, maybe even three, to find out who wins.”
“But certainly Matthew Garwood in a strong position as things currently stand.”
Hawkey said the voter turnout of over 40,000, or 81%, represented a “great return”.
The final result and announcement are anticipated by early afternoon or as late as 4pm.
The election comes two months after previous Mayor Danny Gibson resigned over ‘relentless attacks’ and speculation surrounding his Working with Vulnerable People Registration.
“I am devastated but I have reached the conclusion that my stepping down is in the best interests of Launceston and our local government sector,” Gibson said in May.
