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Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian has ended weeks of speculation and will on Tuesday lodge an appeal against the election outcome in the once blue-ribbon north Sydney seat.
Kapterian fell short in Bradfield by 26 votes to teal candidate Nicolette Boele in a recount, leaving Bradfield the most marginal seat in the country. Kapterian won the initial count by eight votes.
The Liberal Party’s Gisele Kapterian will challenge the election result.Credit: Thomas Wielecki
Boele’s win marked the first time in 75 years that the seat was not held by the Liberals, but despite the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) declaring her the winner, Kapterian did not concede.
NSW Liberal members pushed for party bosses to fund a court challenge and indemnify Kapterian in a bid to have her failed election result overturned, which could prompt a byelection.
However, senior Liberals are pinning their hopes on the judge presiding over the Court of Disputed Returns examining several dozen ballots and ruling them invalid, and therefore declaring Kapterian the winner of the seat.
A byelection, according to several senior Liberals not authorised to speak to the media, could be a huge risk for the party, especially if Labor does not run in Bradfield as expected.
More to come
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