Liberals face nervous waits as vote counts narrow in Bradfield, Goldstein

Two Liberal candidates who were projected to have won their blue-ribbon seats off teal independent challengers are facing a nervous next few days after the vote counts drastically narrowed after being called.

Tim Wilson claimed victory over incumbent MP Zoe Daniel in the inner Melbourne electorate of Goldstein last week and has since gone on to consider (but ultimately opt against) running for Liberal leader and is in contention for a senior shadow cabinet position, while Bradfield in Sydney's north was called for Gisele Kapterian a few days ago.

However, both counts have since narrowed significantly as more postal votes, including those from Australians overseas, have been received by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

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In Goldstein, Wilson's lead over Daniel is down to just 293 votes, down from about 1400 when he declared victory.

With the AEC having 687 votes on hand but yet to be counted, Daniel would need more than two-thirds of the remaining ballots to preference her over Wilson to claim the seat.

In Bradfield, the contest is even closer: just 43 votes separate Kapterian and Boele, although there are only 314 left to be counted.

Boele would need a little over 55 per cent of those to fall in her favour to take the lead.

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Regardless, a recount appears a distinct possibility in Bradfield.

While the AEC always counts every ballot twice, it also often conducts a full recount if the final margin is under 100 votes.

Candidates can also request a recount, although this is not always granted.

For example, one was requested last election for the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore, which Labor won by 373 votes, but was turned down.

Daniel, who celebrated victory on election night, has consistently refused to concede defeat since Wilson claimed Goldstein.

Last night, she said she had "every finger crossed that a batch of international postal votes lands in the next two days among a few other things that need to go our way".

The last day for the AEC to receive postal votes is tomorrow.

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