UPDATE: Clive Palmer has officially won by 36 votes; the AEC will now conduct a recount. Fairfax is the last seat to be decided of the Federal Election.
Affluent, vocal dude who we don’t even know how to accurately describe anymore Clive Palmer is set to face a crippling vote recount, as the contested seat of Farifax has Palmer ahead of LNP contender Ted O’Brien by a mere 22 votes.
It’s been two weeks since Australia took to the polls and destroyed Kevin Rudd’s penchant for victory speeches, however the Clivesland Queensland seat of Fairfax is undecided, with late postal votes still rolling in as crucial additions to the minutely thin voting margin. On election night, the startling victory for the man who seems to have entered politics as a distraction to the Titanic II which is clearly going nowhere, appeared likely; a fortnight later the only things that seem likely are an arduous recount, and more enraged TV appearances by Australia’s loveable, peculiar cashed up tycoon.
The ABC reports that any margin that sits under a 100 votes would qualify for an automatic recount by the AEC, and with the current gap sitting at an excruciatingly slim 22, it’s highly likely that a fresh do-over will be scheduled in the days to come. To draw a cringey copmarison to the inimitable Leslie Knope, if you’ll remember back to Parks And Recreation’s Pawnee election, Team Knope originally lost by 21 votes, only to swoop to a +21 vote victory after the recount. Clive must be up to date with his darling NBC comedies too, he definitely knows what’s up:
I’ll formally request a recount in the seat of Fairfax due to evidence of tampering of the ballots and discrepancies with the count #auspol
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) September 17, 2013
