Overview

• Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian withdrew her Court of Disputed Returns petition 145 days after the election and conceded the Sydney seat of Bradfield.
• An automatic recount overturned Kapterian’s initial eight-vote lead, declaring independent Nicolette Boele the winner by 26 votes, and Boele has been sworn in.
• The abandoned challenge focused on 151 ballot papers, with claims that 56 votes for Kapterian were wrongly rejected and 95 for Boele wrongly accepted.
• A Federal Court hearing scheduled for 2 October will not proceed after legal teams reviewed hundreds of ballot papers made available for analysis.
• The Australian Electoral Commission defended its process as exhaustive, and Bradfield remains the most marginal federal seat in the country.