Voting has closed in the 2024 Victorian local government elections.
For live updates on the Melbourne City Council count, click here.
The first batch of results coming in from the Melbourne City Council have indicated a close race, with up to five parties/groups claiming at least 10% of first preference votes.
Figures obtained by 6 News through multiple sources indicate that in the councillor election, Team Nick Reece is leading a large pack of candidates but only with around a quarter of the vote. He's followed by the Liberal Party, Team Kouta, the Greens and Team Wood who each have between 11 and 17 percent each.
Voting closed at 6pm AEDT on Friday. The Victorian Electoral Commission says results information for each LGA will be published once all counting has been finalised for that council, with no progressive results provided.
The current results for Melbourne are almost certainly set to change as counting continues. At the 2020 election, Sally Capp had 31.6% of first preferences in the lord mayoral race and defeated Arron Wood with 53.4% in the two-candidate-preferred count. Wood was third on the primary vote, with 15.3%, behind the Greens on 16.7%.
Similarly to Reece's current councillor numbers, Team Sally Capp had 26.7% of first preferences in the 2020 councillor election.
Melbourne is the only LGA in Victoria that gives businesses two votes and uses group voting tickets.