Nominations have closed for the September 14 Local Council Elections, so the candidates are locked in. Yesterday, the NSW Electoral Commission performed the ballot draw for where the mayoral and councillor candidates will appear on the voting form.

Sandra Mahoney, the Returning Officer for Lismore, moved through the official process by stating the 5 mayoral candidates and 30 councillor candidates, then placing the names (mayor and group names) into identical tubes, putting them in a ballot box (bag), rotating the ballot box and drawing out each candidate.

Mayoral Race

Vanessa Ekins (The Greens) was drawn first, giving her the coveted number 1 spot.

Harper Dalton-Earls was drawn next, to be number 2.

Big Rob will be number 3.

John Jenkins, number 4 and

Current mayor Steve Krieg at number 5.

The big question in the NSW Electoral Commission room was, "Does it matter what position you draw?"

Political analyst Mark Bailey said the number one position can be worth 250 to 300 votes because of the 'donkey voters', the people who don't care who is elected mayor.

"Figures from previous polls show that the vast majority of people are only voting one, so it won't flow through to Labor or any of the other candidates. You'd rather be one, but if you are not one, you'd be six because you don't want to be stuck in the middle."

"The council one's a little bit different because it goes out across the page, and there are lots of candidates with an increase ticket, compared to the others. I think that'll give him (Steve Krieg) an advantage. And the name recognition of all those candidates will pay dividends again. You'd rather be one than in the middle.

Vanessa Ekins was very happy being drawn out in the number 1 position.

"I'm happy with that, number one. It depends on how engaged voters are, but it looks good. I hope that voters are really engaged and know who they're going to vote for when they go in and number the boxes. It is optional preferential voting, so it's always a strong vote. If you vote more than once, don't just do a one, do a one, two."

Big Rob said your position on the ballot paper absolutely does matter.

"Unfortunately for Steve Krieg he got last on the mayoral vote. So, everyone thinks about the donkey vote, the first past the post race is not very good, but he got the first spot on the group for voting squares, which means his group will get the maximum number of votes they can get from people who just do donkey votes. They'll vote one to whatever across the top. So, it's a good spot to be.

"I got Group C, which I'm not fussed on. I don't spend any money or campaign hard. If people want me there, they'll put me there. I'll just let them know to Vote 1 Group C above the line if they want me there. I think it's going to be a good election."

First-time mayoral candidate Labor's Harper Dalton-Earls said he would hope the positioning didn't matter.

"I would like to think not. I hope most people are engaged and will vote based on their values and the candidate that align with their values. However, it's always a little bit of fun, and people get concerned about the donkey votes, but I really encourage people to get informed and research their candidates."

Steve Krieg said this is a job for political analysts.

"Political analysts look into your position on the ballot, and I guess it has a bit of weight. I'm first and fifth, I'm happy with both and I'll be easy to find."

"I hope my message is clear and strong and that people vote for me on merit and not because where I'm positioned on the ballot paper."

(Candidates wait with bated breath for the Lismore ballot draw yesterday)

Councillor Candidates

There are four groups that form the Councillor candidate voting form and one ungrouped candidate. The ungrouped candidates always appear on the right-hand side of the ballot paper, which means independent John Jenkins will appear as the fifth candidate on the right-hand side.

The Steve Krieg ticket was drawn out first into the coveted number 1 position on the ballot form as an independent.

Harper Dalton-Earls is number 2 for the Labor Party.

Big Rob is number three as an independent.

Adam Guise is number four for The Greens.

The full group tickets are:

Steve Krieg Independent: Jeri Hall, Andrew Gordon, Electra Jensen, Andrew Bing, Gianpiero Battista, Nadia Pidcock, Chris King, Tara Coles, Mitchell Dowse and Richelle Weekes.

Harper Dalton-Earls Labor: Jasmine Knight-Smith, Kevin Bell, Joy Knight-Smith, Lewis Taylor, Glenys Ritchie and William Harrison.

Big Rob Independent: Shane Springall, Luke Tanttari, Christopher Knight, Stella Coleman

Adam Guise The Greens: Virginia Walters, Luke Robinson, Shae Salmon, Lindall Watson and Belinda O'Dwyer.

The ungrouped candidate is John Jenkins.

Grouping is seen as important to be successful in having as many candidates as possible on council. The more '1' votes above the line for each candidate means once a quota is received (number of required votes) the person next on the ticket will try and get enough votes to become a councillor. This process continues until all votes are exhausted and the ten councillors have been elected, plus the mayor.

Of course, you can vote 1 to 30 below the line if you wish. If your candidate is near the end of the group ticket, then it is unlikely they will receive enough votes to become a councillor.

With four weeks until Lismore goes to the polls to elect a new mayor and ten new councillors, it is game on as advertising begins on private property, radio, TV and the Lismore App.

The Lismore App will launch a Meet The Candidates button tomorrow (Saturday), so you can read what each group stands for and who each candidate is.

This is arguably the most important local council election in Lismore's history as we continue with the 2022 Flood Recovery and move into the Construction and Flood Mitigation phase in the next four years.