Bradfield back in doubt as Teal MP Nicolette Boele bounces back with postal ballot surge
The Sydney seat of Bradfield is back in play after an influx of postal ballots pushed up the vote for teal independent Nicolette Boele.
The electorate has been in Liberal Party hands since its creation in 1949.
It appeared as though it would stay that way earlier this week, with Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian on track to succeed Paul Fletcher – who represented Bradfield for 16 years – as member.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But the vote count took an unexpected turn on Wednesday after hundreds of declaration pre-poll votes slashed Ms Kapterian’s lead.
At reporting, official Australian Electoral Commission data put Ms Kapterian ahead by just 80 votes, with 3.36 per cent swing toward Ms Boele.
A recount would be automatically triggered if the final margin ended up below 100.
“The AEC counts all votes three times, if it’s under 100 then we will do an automatic recount but if not, there needs to be a good reason,” an AEC spokesperson said.
“There is one more round of postal votes and remote voting to be counted today.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, between 1000 and 1500 votes still needed to be counted.
Ms Kapterian has already been welcomed to the Liberal Party room and voted in Tuesday’s leadership contest.
Three other seats remain unresolved – Calwell and Flinders in Victoria and Longman in Brisbane.
