February 14, 2024
Cr Kirstie Schumacher has secured the valuable No 1 spot on voting slips for the upcoming election for Mayor of the South Burnett Regional Council.
The official ballot draw for the poll was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Queensland’s local Returning Officer, Michael Whitwell, and electoral observer Alison McLeod in the Kingaroy Town Hall Reception Room on Wednesday morning.
Four candidates will be contesting the Mayoral role, left vacant by the decision of Cr Brett Otto not to restand.
In ballot paper order, the candidates for South Burnett Mayor are:
1. Kirstie Schumacher (currently Division 4 councillor)
2. Kathy Duff (currently Division 5 councillor)
3. Tom Wilson
4. Gavin Jones (currently Acting Mayor and Division 2 councillor)
Speaking after the draw, Cr Jones told southburnett.com.au he was not worried about being drawn in fourth spot as he believed voters would not be making their decisions based on the ballot paper order.
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Ballot draws were also conducted for five of the South Burnett Regional Council’s six divisions.
The official ballot paper order is:
Division 1
1. Tom De Weers
2. Jane Erkens (incumbent)
Division 2
1. Linda Little
2. Douglas Grant
3. Wendy Hazelton
Division 4
1. Gerald Daly
2. Seth Schuback
3. Dan Andersson
4. Heidi Westbrook
5. Deb Dennien
Division 5
1. Stuart Battese
2. Allan Walters
3. Heath Sander
Division 6
1. Scott Henschen (incumbent)
2. Ros Heit
Mr Whitwell said no ballot draw was necessary for Division 3 as only one nomination had been received.
Division 3 councillor Danita Potter was congratulated by her fellow councillors on her re-election for another term at Wednesday’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting.
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Video of the Mayoral Ballot Draw
(The draws for the Divisional candidates were conducted in a similar manner before being entered into the ECQ computer system by electoral observer Clem Fechner)
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All the mayoral candidates, most Divisional candidates plus members of the public and media attended the official draw:
