Herbert recount to start in Townsville

Recounting for the Queensland seat of Herbert will begin in Townsville on Thursday.

The Australian Electoral Commission decided to do the full recount after the initial count ended with Labor's Cathy O'Toole just eight votes ahead of the sitting coalition MP Ewen Jones.

The process will take two weeks, meaning Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull could be forced to wait the fortnight to find out if he has 76 or 77 seats in parliament.

Having 77 members in the House of Representatives will give Mr Turnbull the ability to appoint a coalition MP as Speaker while still retaining an absolute majority on the floor of parliament.

The AEC said the recount would involve a count of all first preference votes and a re-examination of informal votes, a two-candidate preferred count and a full distribution of preferences.

Any margin less than than 100 votes is cause for an automatic recount.