Lismore still waiting to know who is mayor

UPDATE: The Lismore mayoral vote will not continue today but instead will resume in the morning.

The returning officer in charge of the Lismore election has been instructed to wait until tomorrow morning to resume counting.

The officer had been waiting for outstanding votes to arrive from Sydney today, which had delayed voting.

Earlier report.

Lismore residents should know by today who will be their next new mayor, with Country Labor’s Isaac Smith expected to expand his lead with preferences.

Mr Smith received 29.7 per cent of the first preference vote, National Party-alligned candidate Neil Marks received 21.94 per cent, and Shooters Party-alligned candidate Greg Bennett received 20.82 per cent.

Following them, Greens candidate Vanessa Ekins amassed 15.48 per cent, while Christian Democrats-alligned candidate Gianpiero Battista received 9.35 per cent.

Independent Big Rob managed just 3.04 per cent, just marginally better than the 2.39 per cent of informal votes cast.

The mayoral count continues this morning with the distribution of preferences.

Meanwhile, the counting of councillor votes also continues, with both above and below the line votes being entered into the computer today.

The eleven person council looks set to be closely divided among ‘progressives’ and conservatives, with all eyes on the contest between former conservative councillor Matt Scheibel and Greens candidate Adam Guise to determine which way the council leans.

More to come.