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A fair few people were probably confused by the two columns.
A fifth of us didn't even turn up to vote at all, according to the latest count - and 6.6 per cent of those who did vote cast their ballot informally, so it won't count.
But one way or another the Tamworth electorate has demonstrated a desire for change.
Never fear. As always, the electorate is right.
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When all the smoke clears we're likely to have elected our first Indigenous councillor, probably ever, our first Labor candidate in decades, and likely the two youngest councillors ever in Brooke Southwell and Marc Sutherland.
The average age of councillors, and the combined years of experience on council, has plummeted.
The thorn in the side of the old council, Mark Rodda, has once again topped the poll, this time even more convincingly.
We will have a new mayor, by default, but also by acclimation.
Meanwhile several incumbents are either going to be turfed out or don't yet know if they've held on.
It's not impossible that Tamworth has elected five new councillors (Bede Burke, Marc Sutherland, Stephen Mears, Brooke Southwell and possibly even another Labor candidate, or another new independent). That would be far more than the three in 2016 or two in 2012. Of the nine councillors in last week's council, five were there in 2008. As of today, just one is certain to return.
Just to repeat, this decision by the electorate is the correct one.
That's not a criticism of the previous nine councillors, it was just time for a renewal - which is why three of them resigned before election day.
Tamworth is a more diverse city than a decade ago, when the majority of the 2016 council was elected. It's also a wealthier and more successful one, and a bigger one in population terms. People move here, not just for work, but because they want to. That's good, but it creates new problems, and new debates about how to solve them.
The new council is filled with fresh, diverse new faces, genuine community leaders that will add value to the city for more reasons than just that they look more like it does. It would be a crime if a tale about some uncounted votes undermined the legitimacy of this elected body.
There has been a narrative I've heard, which goes something like this:
Labor ran a bloc for council, with five councillors on the group ticket.
The voter was therefore essentially presented with two columns, one with five ALP candidates, the other with 14 non-Labor candidates.
The instructions on the ballot said you have to vote for at least five candidates.
Therefore, a bunch of people probably assumed you had to vote one to five in both columns. Because the voter's intent couldn't be gleaned, the vote wasn't counted.
I've even heard some make the much stronger claim that Labor's move was in fact deliberately undemocratic, an attempt to fix the election by tricking voters somehow.
To be clear, that is totally unfounded garbage. Any candidates are legally entitled to run as a ticket in order to signal that they hold the same values. This is a common practice across the state.
It's even relatively common in Tamworth. The Liberal Party ran a ticket last election.
The most fundamental problem with this line of argument is it doesn't matter. Labor's elected. We've got at least one Labor councillor. There is no putting that genie back in the bottle. Cr Mears is going to represent the nearly 4000 people who voted Labor in Tamworth, plus the thousands more who didn't. Counted as a ticket, the Labor group won more votes than any individual candidate except Mark Rodda. That's why they won, not trickery. If you don't like it, make the best of it.
The more interesting question is what does the election say about the kinds of problems Tamworth wants its local government to sort out.
Housing affordability, youth issues, and equal and fair representation will be on the agenda just as much as roads, rates, rubbish and water.
Tamworth also wants old-fashioned economic development, both of the agriculture and industrial and residential kind, which is why former National chairman Bede Burke won a full quota in his own right, on his first run, a heroic effort.
But Cr Sutherland, Cr Southwell, Cr Mears and others will come armed with specific goals they will want to achieve, for groups that have rarely or never before been at the table.
The dumbest thing any of the new councillors could do is imagine that their goals must come at the expense of the others. Economic gain benefits the poorest. Helping the marginalised find homes, work and healthcare builds up our economy.
Helping the disadvantaged doesn't mean other people have to lose, but it does mean that they have to get used to listening to what other people want, or need.
This isn't a divided council. Tamworth did not pit councillors against each other. Different communities picked different candidates with complimentary attitudes and agendas.
This is a legitimate local government. Let's give it a chance. I think it's the strongest council Tamworth has ever elected, at least since the last one.
But if the electorate did make a mistake, never worry - the next election is barely over two years away.
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