Keep up to date with the Tamworth Regional Council vote here.

Want to find out what’s happening on the Northern Tablelands? Check out all the action here from Uralla, Walcha, Glen Innes, Tenterfield and Inverell.

And who is kicking ahead in the votes in the Liverpool Plains, Moree, Narrabri and Gwydir elections? We’ve got the answers for you here.

UPDATE | 9pm

The count result might not be known for a few days but already hopeful candidates are gathering across Tamworth.

Former Tamworth deputy Mayor Russell Webb is leading the charge, followed by fellow former councillor Mark Rodda. 

See the votes live at: http://www.votensw.info/tamworth-regional-council/councillor

7.36pm: Narrabri: Maxine Booby extends her lead to 62 votes, followed by Ron Campey on 43 and Cameron Staines on 40.

7.21pm: Liverpool Plains: Andrew Hope and Ian Lobsey neck and neck on 165 and 166 votes respectively, but still early days in the count. Ken Cudmore on 153, while Andrew Laurie collects 132. 989 votes counted.

7.12pm: Gwydir: John Coulton out to an early lead with 120 votes. followed by David Coulton on 51. 342 votes counted.

7.09pm: Moree Plains: Mayor Katrina Humphries romping to an early lead on 100 votes, followed by Greg Smith on 59 and Sue Price on 51. 390 votes counted.

7.06pm: Tamworth Regional Council: 152 votes have been counted. Ungrouped runners hold 69.08% of the count, followed by Liberals on 13.82%.

7.03pm: Narrabri Shire: Early days yet, with vote count still in single and double figures. Ron Campey holds 44 votes, Maxine Bobby on 28, Ron Campbell on 20. 272 votes counted.

7.02pm: Liverpool Plains: Independent Ian Lobsey leads the vote count at 136. Andrew Laurie, Ken Cudmore follow on 75 and 114 respectively. 666 votes counted.

Penalty notices

The NSW Electoral Commission said it is required by law to issue a penalty notice to an elector, who appears to have failed to vote at an election.

The notice gives options to:

You must reply within 28 days of the issue date of the notice.

The penalty for failing to vote at a State election or Local Government election is $55.

Penalty payments are remitted to the NSW Treasury and not retained by the NSW Electoral Commission.

Some polling places in Moree Plains Shire Council have been affected by flooding, according to the NSW Electoral Commission.

Terry Hie Hie Hall is abolished and there will be not voting at this venue.

7.25: URALLA: Michael Pearce leads the mayoral vote with 376. Second is Bob Crouch on 161, followed by Tom O’Connor 114, Natasha Ledger 84 & Isabel Strutt 69

7.20pm: WALCHA: 

B Ward: Clint Lyon 104, Eric Noakes 86, Barry Spry 51

C Ward: Jennifer Kealy 118, Scott Kermode 67, Lloyd Levingston 57

No votes in for A or D Wards yet

How many voters cast their ballot before today? About a quarter in the Tamworth Regional Council area, according to the NSW Electoral Commission.

By 4pm on Friday, 2185 voters had trundled in to get their compulsory vote done and dusted.

By that point, over 11,600 people had issued their early vote, across all of the pre-poll stations, including Manilla, Nundle and Barraba branch offices.

Live results from across the Northern Tablelands are here

7.15pm, INVERELL: We have a small booth in. 94 votes counted and Kate Dight has 63 of them

7.10pm, TENTERFIELD: 

A WARD: Gary Verri 112, Lawrie West 100, Peter Petty 52

B WARD: John Macnish 69, Bronwyn Petrie 48, Clifford Lavender 20

C WARD: Thomas Peters 48, Brian Murray 13, Robert Walker 9

D WARD & E WARD: No votes counted yet

7pm, GLEN INNES: 300 votes have been counted. Glenn Frendon 85, Malcolm Schumacher 50, Garry Frendon 31, Colin Price 20, Andrew Parsons 19, Pat Urquhart 18, Brett Bishop 17, Dianne Newman 13, Jeff Smith 12, Steve Toms 12, Catherine Green 12, Carol Sparks 11, Jennifer Henry 9, James Gresham 8, Neale Royal 2 and David Renn 1. 

7pm, URALLA: B Ward votes are in: Bob Crouch 38, Michael Pearce 22, Mark Dusting 6, Natasha Ledger 5, and Deb Pulkkinen and Sandra Bamberry have 2 each.

6.45pm, WALCHA: Some early C Ward votes are in: Jennifer Kealey 36, Lloyd Levingston 24 and Scott Kermode 16.

6.45pm, URALLA: It’s only early but Bob Crouch leads the mayoral vote with 39. Michael Pearce has 25, Tom O’Connor 11, Natahsa Ledger 8 and Isabel Strutt 1.

There are 26 polling places to count in the Tamworth Regional Council zone.

On Saturday night, electoral staff will count all first preference votes.

Candidates are elected to council in a quota system. A quota is derived by the total number of formal votes divided by the total number of vacancies, plus one.

Once a candidate reaches a quota is elected, their surplus or extra votes above the quota are distributed to the remaining candidates.

It is anticipated that all counts will be completed and results declared by the close of business Friday, 16 September.

Want to know what the big issues are for local voters? We asked you, and this is what you told us.

Experienced campaigners and fresh faces seeking a seat at the council table agreed it was hard to gauge the feeling among the voters.

Fairfax Media published a poll of its own just a over a week ago to find what the region’s biggest issues were going into this year’s council election.

RESIDENTS and ratepayers will be able to follow the council election online, when the virtual tally room goes live on Saturday night.

From 6pm results will be updated at votensw.info via the NSW Electoral Commission virtual tally room.

While officials will be busily counting the votes, the region probably won’t know the make up of its council until sometime next week.

Candidates are elected to council in a quota system. A quota is derived by the total number of formal votes divided by the total number of vacancies, plus one.

Once a candidate reaches a quota is elected, their surplus or extra votes above the quota are distributed to the remaining candidates.

Candidates with the lowest number of votes are then excluded and their ballot papers are redistributed according to the next choice shown. 

This process continues until all the vacancies are filled.

In order to lodge a formal vote, people must number at least five boxes in order of preference.

But voters able, and encouraged, to give preferences for as many candidates as they wish.

From 6pm on Saturday night, counts for first preference votes for mayor, where the role is popularly elected such as Uralla, first preference counts for councillors from each polling place will commence.

Starting at 12 noon, Election Sunday, all councillor ballot papers will undergo a check count.

This involves the preparation and data entry of ballot papers into the NSWEC's Proportional Representation Computer Count (PRCC) data entry system.

Councillor ballot papers are data entered twice known as round 1 and round 2 data entry. Only after all ballot papers for a Council or ward have been data entered and reconciled can the count be conducted for that contest.

For the first time in number of years, Tamworth voters will be handed a ballot paper with grouped candidates.

It is anticipated that all counts will be completed and results declared by the close of business Friday, 16 September.