Three councillors will be elected in each of the three wards – Central, East and West.

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The Mayoral position will be decided by popular vote while the Deputy Mayor will be elected by councillors at a later date.

All candidates are members of a group, which means electors can vote above the line for that group or below the line for individual councillors.

Some of the candidates are related.

Following is the full list of contenders, based on the position they drew on the ballot paper.

Central Ward

1. GROUP A (Labor): Jason Wells of Medowie (group lead), Kelly Hammond of Bobs Farm and Beverly Rabbit of Lemon Tree Passage,

2. GROUP B (Independent): Chris Doohan of Medowie (group lead), Rosanne Colling of Medowie and Jaike Doohan of Medowie.

3. GROUP C (Independent): Ben Niland of Medowie (group lead), Steve Tucker of Tanilba Bay and Nathan Ashpole of Medowie.

4. GROUP D (Independent): Scott Leech of Medowie (group lead), Scott Schultz of Medowie, Neville Sutrin of Medowie and George Trinkler of Karuah.

East Ward

1. GROUP A (Labor): Leah Anderson of Nelson Bay (group lead), Roz Armstrong of Soldiers Point, Mackenzie Goring of Nelson Bay and Sharon Smart of Corlette.

2. GROUP B (Liberal): Nathan Errington of Raymond Terrace (group lead), Katy McHugh of Raymond Terrace and Geoffrey McHugh of Raymond Terrace.

3. GROUP C (The Greens): Kim Scott of Nelson Bay (group lead), Mark Adamski of Salamander Bay and Jane Rich of Nelson Bay.

4. GROUP D (Independent): Mark Watson of Corlette (group lead), Jamie Green of Corlette and Troy Radford of Tanilba Bay.

West Ward

1. GROUP A (Independent): Paul Le Mottee of Butterwick (group lead), Joshua Moxey of Medowie and Huxley Rowe of Raymond Terrace.

2. GROUP B: (Labor): Giacomo Arnott of Raymond Terrace (group lead), Peter Francis of Raymond Terrace, Sue Sneesby of Raymond Terrace, Lea Harris of Fern Bay and David Jones of Raymond Terrace.

3. GROUP C (Independent): Peter Kafer of Raymond Terrace (group lead), Lea Smith of Raymond Terrace and Nathan Avnell of Raymond Terrace.

A map of the three wards can be found on the Port Stephens Council website.

Meantime, only three candidates have put their names forward to replace Mayor Ryan Palmer.

They are Leah Anderson, Mark Watson and Paul Le Mottee.

Voting is compulsory for anyone over eighteen and registered on the electoral roll.

You cannot vote if you are not registered.

You can check if your details are up to date by going to the Australian Electoral Commission website.

By Sue STEPHENSON