With the September 9 election looming, candidates have been stepping up their efforts to win a place on Bathurst Regional Council.

John Hollis invited candidates to attend the forum to help get their message out. 

When the floor was opened to the public, the first question to be asked was why some candidates chose to form a ticket.  

Monica Morse hoped her experience on council would attract votes to get two younger females over the line so there would be more female representation. 

Bobby Bourke was more strategic in his decision and thought about how he could get policy though if he is re-elected. 

“This is the first time I’ve put a group in after the last four elections and the reason is I’ve had no support on council,” he said.

“I’m up here saying I need support on council to get my issues through.” 

Nick Packham, one of only two independent candidates, said he felt it was better to stand alone. 

“I think it is interesting that no sitting councillor has backed themselves to get the votes to get in on their own right,” he said.

“I’m encouraging people – and I think it is the safest way – to vote for the people you believe have the skills to be on council.” 

“If you vote for individuals, you get the people you want. If you vote for teams, you may well get people who aren’t expecting to be on council and may not want to be on council.”

The second part of the question was how the preferences work for group tickets.

Because nine councillor positions are up for grabs, a candidate needs to get one-ninth of the overall number of votes to be elected.

Any votes a candidate gets beyond that quota are distributed according to voters’ preferences.

Where a voter has elected to vote “above the line” for a ticket, any votes above the quota automatically flow to number two on the ticket.

If the voter has voted below the line, preferences are distributed according to the voter’s express wishes.