While the vote count in the Eden-Monaro by-election continues to be in Labor candidate Kristy McBain's favour, an official result cannot be released until later this month.
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On Thursday morning, Australian electoral officer for NSW Warwick Austin said all postal votes in the Australian Electoral Commission's (AEC) possession had been counted - about 12,000.
Mr Austin said "as is normally the case at this stage of a count, we simply have to wait to receive any new votes".
"We will count the new postal votes that we receive in batches as they arrive but it is fair to expect that there won't be movement on the tally room every day," he said.
Legally, the AEC must wait 13 days after a by-election day, so in this case July 17, for postal votes to be received.
"An official declaration of the result is therefore likely to occur after this date," the AEC said in a media release.
"Every election - for a variety of reasons - the number of postal voting packs dispatched by the AEC is greater than the number of completed postal votes that are received back from voters.
"The AEC is unable to legally declare a result if the margin is smaller than the maximum number of potential postal votes still to be returned."
By Thursday afternoon Ms McBain, who has already claimed victory in the seat, held 50.38 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote over the Liberals' Fiona Kotvojs who was on 49.62 per cent.
Ms McBain can hold her elected seat on Bega Valley Shire Council until she is sworn is as the new Eden-Monaro MP.
Under the Local Government Act, she can retain her position, and at this stage of the electoral cycle no by-election would be needed if she decides to step down, Bega council said.
Earlier this year the state government postponed September's NSW Local Government elections by 12 months due to COVID-19, with the option to extend the wait to December 2021.