Griffith's incoming council won't be confirmed until late next week, as election officials work their way on

While the first preference count is close to wrapping up, with just under 2500 votes left to count, the ballot count has slowed to a freeze in recent days as officials handle smaller electorates such as Hay, Narrandera and Murrumbidgee councils.

Doug Curran remains the only council candidate to break past 1000 individual votes, earning enough to secure both Laurie Testoni and Shari Blumer seats on the council.

Ms Blumer however, was hesitant to get too confident. She described at as 'hubris.'

"I'm really very reluctant to make that call."

She did say she was pleased to hear that Doug had secured the mayoral role, albeit not officially announced for another week.

"I'm really happy, I think Doug's great. I think it's a really good sign for the future. Whoever ends up on council, I think it's positive for them too. That's a bit exciting," she added.

The same slow trickly applies to the referendum count, which hasn't meaningfully continued after the initial start. The referendum remains strongly in favour of reducing the number of councillors to nine, and equally in favour of maintaining the current popularly elected mayoral system.

While the mayor is popularly elected, and the people have overwhelmingly voted for Doug Curran, the deputy mayor remains an internal council decision.

The deputy mayor will be chosen at the first meeting of the new council, scheduled for January 25, 2022.

READ MORE

Ms Blumer said that the length of time between the vote and the confirmation was too long, especially considering the postponement from the originally planned September election.

"When I first knew I was running, I knew it would take a while but I don't think I really believed it ... I understand the process is being done, that's the burden of bureaucracy."

"I think perhaps, they might have to consider how long it takes. It's not great to have a council over Christmas," Ms Blumer explained.

She added that it undersold the importance of having clear leadership in a town.

"I think the thing is, it doesn't respect the importance of having a mayor and councillors. Look what happened in the coast during the bushfires - the local councils really had to step up and support the communities."

"If something were to happen, we don't have that leadership role at the moment."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: