The informal vote as counting progresses as of 5pm Monday (December 6) was a whopping 17.6 per cent.

Feedback from many voters indicated the lack of information prior to heading into the polling booths played a role despite the fact all candidates were out in the community in the lead-up to voting day.

Across the Kempsey local government area, 22,744 residential and non-residential electors were enrolled to vote as of October 25.

Of those, 5,340 had pre-poll voted by December 2.

As of 4pm Monday (December 6), the contest for mayor between Liz Campbell and Leo Hauville had tightened further with just 328 votes separating the two.

Campbell leads with 30.91 per cent of the first preference votes while Hauville edges closer with 28.7 per cent of the votes.

Seven candidates contested the mayoral position.

Eight councillors will be chosen from 22 candidates.

The tally room has counted 13,559 first preference votes so far.

Based on the current tally Monday afternoon, Liz Campbell is likely to be returned as a councillor along with Arthur Bain and Alexandra Wyatt. Both Group A led by Simon Fergusson and Group B headed by VJ Craigie are likely to have a seat at the table.

The exact mix of elected council representatives won't be known until closer to Christmas.

The distribution of preferences in the mayoral contest is scheduled for December 20, followed by the distribution of preferences in the councillor election on December 22.

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