Votes are being counted to determine who will run Queensland’s councils and take a seat in state parliament.

The level of turnout in the 77 local government polls and by-elections in the state seats of Currumbin on the Gold Coast and Bundamba at Ipswich is unclear.

Results could take days after more than 500,000 people voted by mail to avoid queuing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s unknown what impact the virus may have on the polls.

Government officials have for weeks urged Queenslanders to stay at home to avoid spreading the infection and simultaneously told them to go out and vote.

Labor’s Lance McCallum is set to retain Bundamba, according to ABC election analyst Antony Green, while Laura Gerber was on track to hold Currumbin for the Liberal National Party.

Those results would not change the government but are a sign of what’s to come at October’s state election.

Meanwhile the LNP’s Adrian Schrinner was leading in the race to become Brisbane mayor, followed by Labor’s Patrick Condren.

Tom Tate was tracking ahead on the Gold Coast, while Teresa Harding was ahead in poll for Ipswich mayor and Darren Power was leading the pack in Logan.

Earlier

Queenslanders have begun what could be a long wait to find out who will sit on their new council and claim two seats in state parliament.

With just 29.9 per cent of the vote counted in Bundamba, Labor candidate Lance McCallum is ahead with One Nation’s Sharon Bell coming in second. The seat was left vacant by the resignation of long-term Labor MP Jo-Ann Miller.

Her exit from politics came after Jann Stuckey quit politics after holding the Gold Coast seat of Currumbin for the Liberal National Party. Laura Gerber is running for the LNP there and is ahead.

These polls will not change the government but will be watched closely as indicators of what’s to come at October’s state election. Labor holds a sizeable margin in Bundamba, while the LNP has held Currumbin since 2004.

However, the results may not be known by the end of the night, as more than 570,000 residents were expected to vote by mail. Results for 77 councils are unclear.

Brisbane is Australia’s largest council and has been held by the Liberal National Party since 2004. Adrian Schrinner was sworn in as Lord Mayor last year when Graham Quirk resigned.

He is now in his first race for the job against Labor candidate Patrick Condren.
The former television journalist is his biggest threat.

One thing is for certain: Lawrence Springborg, former leader of the Liberal National Party, will return to politics after running unopposed for mayor of Goondiwindi.

Eyes will be focused on a number of regions in the state’s southeast.
Ipswich and Logan will also be watched with interest after the mayors in both regions were punted from office following investigations by the Crime and Corruption Commission.

-AAP