MOREE Plains Shire councillor Susannah Pearse is back for another term, with a clear lead in the local government election when counting paused at 10pm, Saturday.

Pearse leads clearly, ahead of Wayne Tighe and Kelly James.

With more than two-thirds of the votes tallied, Brooke Sauer, Pearse’s running mate, is almost assured of a seat.

Boggabilla farmer Peter Mailler and Moree real-estate agent Dominique Hodgkinson also look likely to gain spots at the table.

The remaining candidates are a bunched field, with Fred McGrady, Debbie Williams, Kerry Cassells and Karen Munn leading the race for remaining seats.

In a drawn-out process, surpluses over quota are allocated first, which should get Sauer over the line.

After surpluses are allocated, an exclusion process begins. Candidates with the lowest first preference are excluded and their preferences allocated. Candidates over quota are elected, with the process continuing until there are nine left standing.

Some may not reach quota but can still be elected.

Susannah Pearse is back for another term after taking a clear lead in the race for selection.

Acting NSW Electoral Commissioner Dr Matthew Phillips said counting began as soon as polling places close, with results progressively published on the NSW Electoral Commission’s website.

“To ensure the health and safety of staff and scrutineers, counting concluded by 10pm on election night,” Mr Phillips said.

Counting will not be conducted on Sunday, September 15.

Other critical election operations will take place on Sunday, including the delivery of ballot papers and other materials to centralised count centres.

“Our staff will have a very long day today after starting early and are about to start a long night of counting. In line with our work health and safety principles, staff will get a well-deserved break tomorrow before counting resumes on Monday,” said Dr Phillips said Saturday.

Counting will then proceed in line with legislative requirements and the published count timeline.

All count results – initial counts, check counts, and distribution of preferences – will be published as soon as they are available.

The count cannot be concluded until all postal votes have been returned to the Electoral Commissioner.

The deadline for return of completed postal votes is 6pm on Friday, September 27, 2024.

When all the votes have been counted, the official announcement of the elections result will be declared in writing.

Results will be declared between October 1 and 3, 2024.

The date of the declaration varies from council to council. The declaration will be displayed at the office of the relevant council and the final election result will be available at www.elections.nsw.gov.au