At least two thirds of councillors from the past four years will return for the next term, early counting suggests.
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Six of the nine incumbents are clearly within the top three places for their respective wards: Amy Johnson in the North Ward (27 per cent of total first preference votes so far); Belinda Coates (25.6 per cent), Mark Harris (18.4 per cent) and Samantha McIntosh (17.6 per cent) in the Central Ward; and Des Hudson (26 per cent) and Ben Taylor (24 per cent) in the South Ward.
The only new face that looks reasonably assured to be elected at this stage of the process is the independent candidate Peter Eddy, easily in second place in the North Ward as it currently stands.
Early form shows a high proportion of votes for the Greens Party - although it remains to be seen whether any candidate will join Ms Coates, the only current representative of the group in the council chamber.
The elections are shaping up to be a substantial disappointment to the Labor Party, which had invested heavily in the campaign including taking the decision to endorse its council candidates for the first time.
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Unless there is a significant shift in voting patterns in the remaining ballot papers, there will be no increase in Labor representation on council in the next term - and it could possibly decrease.
Their campaign included the attempted political return of state MP Geoff Howard, a man much more used to winning elections than losing them.
However, he currently stands in a distant fifth place in Central Ward and would only have a very remote chance of improving enough to secure a place on council.
Of two existing Labor councillors, only Des Hudson looks certain to return. In the North Ward Labor-endorsed Daniel Moloney - who served this past term - and new candidate Jay Morrison remain in contention with the Greens Party's Ellen Burns for a third seat. All will need to wait until preferences have been calculated to know for sure.
While the incumbents appear too far ahead in the Central Ward if voting continues the same way, the battle for third place is also the story of the South Ward.
The Greens Party's Jackson Snep is closely vying with independent candidate Tracey Hargreaves, while incumbent Jim Rinaldi is in fifth place with first preference votes. While not out of contention completely, Mr Rinaldi would now only stand an outside chance for re-election and would be heavily reliant on being high up the preference list of other candidates.
Grant Tillett in the North Ward is the only current councillor that looks certain to be voted out.
Most first preference votes have been counted in the South and North Wards, while the latest figures available for the Central Ward stand at around 40 per cent.
According to the election office's early schedule, all votes are due to be manually entered onto a computerised system by Wednesday November 4.
The results can be calculated instantly, but would need to be run by the Victorian Electoral Commission before the results are made official. It is not yet clear whether this process will take place publicly.
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