Mayor’s up against re-election trend

By Bridget Brady and Elizabeth Hart
MAYOR Janet Halsall will buck the national trend if she is re-elected as a councillor in this weekend’s election.
So says City of Casey chief executive Mike Tyler, who told the News mayors in their councils nation-wide tended to lose their jobs as councillors once they have been mayors.
“There are higher incidences of it occurring to mayors who have just finished their term than other councillors generally,” he said.
During the 2000 and 2005 City of Casey elections the previous mayors did not stand for re-election.
Graham Smith was the only Casey mayor to stand again, and he was defeated when he did so during the 2002 election.
Voting is now well under way in the 2008 local government elections. The votes close tomorrow, Friday 28 November, at 6pm.
All voting in the City of Casey occurs by post. Voting is compulsory for everyone on the electoral role. For people aged 70 and over, however, voting is optional. Eligible residents, excluding those 70 and over, who fail to vote will receive a please-explain notice.
The 2008 election in Casey stacks up as the most politically charged in the municipality’s history, and it follows a disruptive term in the chamber.
Of 52 candidates contesting 11 vacancies in six wards across the City of Casey next week, none has confessed to being a dummy runner. A News survey of all candidates last week turned up no professed running mates.
Noble causes occupy the profiles of all candidates. Rates, roads, sport, public transport, child health, business growth, and beating dysfunction in the chamber rate highly among their expressed concerns.
Thirteen candidates stated their political sympathies, in response to the News survey.
Counting of votes in five of Casey’s six wards occurs under the system of proportional representation. Under this system, voters must record a number for all candidates listed on the ballot paper.
The elected candidates must obtain a quota of votes. The quota is the number of formal votes, divided by the number of vacancies plus one, plus one again.
If a candidate receives more votes than a quota, the surplus votes are distributed to that voter’s next preferred candidate but at a lower value.
Proportional representation applies in wards where there is more than one vacancy. In Balla Balla Ward, where there is only one vacancy, the system of preferential voting applies.