The shocking moment that prompted Sydney Mayor Clover Moore to apologise as polls closed in NSW’s dramatic local government election

The final ballots have been counted as polls close for the New South Wales local government elections. However, Sydney Mayor Clover Moore apologised on Saturday afternoon after a rival’s campaign signs were removed and replaced with her own.

Independent candidate Yvonne Weldon claimed on social media on Saturday that one of Moore’s volunteers had taken her corflutes from Redfern, hidden them in a car and replaced them with signs supporting Australia’s longest-serving mayor.

Ms Moore, who has fought for 20 years to keep the keys to Sydney Town Hall, apologised for the incident.

“I am sorry that this happened. This should not have happened at all. I am told the volunteer was instructed to repair and replace it immediately,” Ms. Moore said in a statement.

Ms Weldon, an Indigenous candidate, called the incident disappointing, unacceptable and “symbolic of why we need change”.

The elections were already dramatic and were marred by a ‘monumental blunder’, with 140 Liberal Party candidates in 16 municipal councils missing out on their nominations due to a shocking administrative error that meant they were not nominated on time.

Several municipal councils are facing an inevitable shift to the left after the liberals’ blunder, which received a lot of attention when they did not nominate some 140 candidates they supported.

Elections have been cancelled entirely in 14 council areas due to a lack of candidates. These areas have been declared uncontested areas and candidates are elected without opposition.

Clover Moore has apologised to a rival councillor candidate after her poster was removed from a polling station in Redfern and replaced with a poster of Ms Moore.

A supporter of Indigenous candidate Yvonne Wheldon found her poster in someone’s car after it had been taken down and put it back up

Elsewhere, 140,000 voters in Sydney’s fast-growing south-west got the chance to have their say on the much-publicised battle between Liverpool’s Liberal mayor and the Labor state government.

The Labour Party had attempted to address alleged serious mismanagement and dysfunction in the council and postpone the elections, but time had expired due to the mayor’s legal action.

The Liberals’ absence is also likely to see Penrith, Camden, Northern Beaches and Blue Mountains councils move left, although the Liberals could also gain seats in Parramatta.

The counting of votes for the 2024 New South Wales local elections has begun after the final round of voting was held at 6pm on Saturday. The counting will take four hours and will resume on Monday.

A third of eligible voters had already voted in advance, while more than five million people made their choice in 128 municipalities.

“Our staff have a long day ahead of them today, having started early, and now we have a long night of counting ahead of us,” said New South Wales Acting Electoral Commissioner Matthew Phillips.

Moore, 78, is one of 37 mayors running for office. Political analyst Ben Raue warned against putting too much weight on recent reports that she might not keep her job.

Posters are displayed during the NSW Local Council Election Day at Bankstown Public School

NRL player Will Smith poses for a photo during the NSW Local Council Election Day at Redfern Town Hall in Sydney

“If you look at Clover’s vote, it’s quite volatile,” the founder of election website Tally Room told AAP.

“It’s hard to imagine who could beat her.”

Earlier, Minister of Local Government Ron Hoenig urged residents to familiarize themselves with the candidates so they could make an informed decision, as municipalities spend more than $22 billion a year on services and infrastructure.

The first municipal elections since the national housing crisis were also a test to see whether affordable housing policies at the local level would be successful.

More than 50 candidates, including Ms Moore, have taken an oath of office with the pro-development group Sydney YIMBY.

David Borger, chairman of a pro-development alliance that includes Sydney YIMBY, called it outrageous that so many people were lining up to block new homes “in the middle of the worst housing crisis we’ve ever seen.”

Not every area had to go to the polls. Rural residents in Cowra, Junee and Berrigan enjoyed a poll-free Saturday because the number of nominations was equal to or too low for the number of seats available.