May 11, 2022
Nanango businesswoman Jane Erkens was sworn in as the new South Burnett councillor for Division 1 on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after she was declared the victor in the recent Council by-election.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland announced on Wednesday morning that Mrs Erkens had been successful.
Commissioner Pat Vidgen said Mrs Erkens secured about 59 per cent of the vote after the distribution of preferences.
“Mrs Erkens was the frontrunner throughout the count, but postal voters had 10 days after the election to return ballot papers, so we had to wait until that deadline passed on May 10 before declaring the result,” Mr Vidgen said.
“That’s because the number of outstanding postal votes and the distribution of preferences could have affected the outcome.”
Mr Vidgen said the Division 1 by-election highlighted how popular early voting had become in Queensland.
“We had four days of early voting at this by-election and people really turned out in force during that time,” he said.
“About two-thirds of all ballots were cast before we even got to election day.”
The Declaration of Office ceremony at the SBRC Council Chambers in Kingaroy was presided over by Council CEO, Mark Pitt.
“Cr Erkens has made a wonderful contribution to her community over the past four decades. Jane has a close connection with the people and I’m sure she will make an exceptional councillor,” Mayor Brett Otto said.
The by-election was held to replace former Division 1 councillor Roz Frohloff, who resigned in March 2022.
After the official distribution of preferences Jane Erkens received 1445 votes (59.61 per cent), ahead of Levi Madeley with 979 votes (40.39 per cent)
A total of 3986 voters were enrolled in Division 1 but only 2877 votes were cast, including 86 informal, ie. almost 28 per cent of eligible voters did not submit a ballot paper either in person or via mail.
