However, the fact that a voter response rate of 58.73 per cent is near-record breaking will likely continue to fuel debate around the possibility of making voting in local government elections compulsory. 

The Labor Party say they are looking forward to working with local government.

Opposition local government spokesman David O'Byrne congratulated all the candidates who put their name forward.

“Putting yourself forward for public office takes guts, so congratulations to all candidates, who no doubt sacrificed time, energy and money to try and better their communities,” Mr O’Byrne said.

However, Mr O'Byrne said the voter return rates was not impressive.

“While some local government electorates had improved turnout from previous years, we should not be celebrating voter turnouts around 50 per cent," he said.

“Despite all the interest, effort and expense made to encourage people to vote, barely half of Tasmanians voted."

On the other hand, the state government was happy with the voter response rates, Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein said. 

“The government welcomes reports that Tasmania has recorded its strongest voter turnout for Local Government elections in more than 20 years,” he said.

He said making voting in local government elections compulsory was not a priority for the Liberal government at this time. 

Preliminary results for the City of Launceston council were released about midnight on Tuesday. 

Mayor 

Albert van Zetten has retained his spot at head of the City of Launceston council table. He received more than 51 per cent of the first preference votes.

“Obviously I was patiently waiting to see the outcome, but I’m happy to accept the verdict of the people. It’s something that we’ve had to wait for. It was a long day and a bit,” he said. 

“I’m pleased and realising the responsibility that is there and looking forward to the work that still needs to be done.” 

He said ensuring the council gets the money for the UTAS move, fixing the Tamar River and continuing the City Heart Project were some of his main priorities. 

“There are so many projects on the go and we have to make sure they happen and I’m excited to be involved with them,” he said.  

Janie Finlay was closely defeated, but said she was “seriously proud” of her campaign and herself. 

“Although I would have loved it to be different I think I’ve delivered a really fantastic campaign and had lots of support across the community and from family and friends, who I’d love to thank,” she said.  

“I’ve always been a great contributor in council and being mayor would have been really exciting to go forward over the next four years, but whatever team is put together I’ll still be a part of it.”

More than 11,488 people gave Alderman van Zetten their first vote, with Alderman Finlay receiving about 10,682. 

Deputy mayor 

Alderman Danny Gibson was elected deputy mayor of City of Launceston council.

Alderman Gibson comfortably had the lead for most of the day until early afternoon. At one stage just 1 per cent separated him and Andrea Dawkins. 

He was “absolutely thrilled” with the win. 

“Particularly given the tight tussle at the end and expected that it could have gone any way,” he said.  

“But, feeling thrilled and very excited at the opportunity to work with the other people around the table and making a good contribution to our wonderful city.” 

He aims to continue to bring a positive voice to the table, to advocate for those less represented around the table, continuing to embrace the differences and culture, heritage and tourism. Working with the mayor and other representatives is also high on his to do list. 

“I’m looking forward to being part of this new-look Launceston City Council and the new faces at the table and some I didn’t even see coming. I look forward to developing a positive relationship with those around the table.” 

Andrea Dawkins said she thought Mr Gibson was the right man for the job. 

“I really think we need more progressive voices and I applaud all of the work that Danny has done and really look forward to work with him,” she said.  

Candidates 

Results for the City of Launceston candidates are still sitting on 20 per cent, with the 50 per cent of vote counts expected to be released on Wednesday. 

Simon Wood, Ted Sands, and Karina Stojansek have all lost their spot at the table and have been excluded from the count. 

The new faces likely to take their spots are Alan Harris, Nick Daking, Andrea Dawkins and Thane Brady. 

Rob Soward also looks like he will be re-elected, along with Jim Cox, Emma Williams and Robin McKendrick. 

Paul Spencer is facing a nervous wait as he is the only candidate yet to be excluded. 

Just 20 per cent of the candidate votes have been counted.  

Break O’Day council candidates were left in the dark until Wednesday afternoon after the Tasmanian Electoral Commission didn’t release any of the region’s candidate vote counts until about 1pm.

New-comers Lesa Whittaker and Kristi Chapple are expected secure themselves a spot at the table, and Ross Quinn is still remaining in the count. Mick Tucker, Kylie Wright, John McGiveron, Barry LeFevre, Janet Drummond, John Tucker and Glenn McGuinness look to have retained spots at the table.

Margaret Osborne, who was excluded from the count, has been representing the council for about 18 years. 

Many in the region were shocked about her not being re-elected. 

Ms Osborne has been a councillor and deputy mayor. She is also the president of the Hospital Auxiliary running the Tip Shop to raise funds for the new hospital. Ms Osborne decided to run again because she enjoys standing for her community. 

Tyler Birch, Bill Manning, Nick Langoulant, Brady James Young, Randy Wilson and Neville Rayner were also excluded.

The final count for the Dorset Council has seen newcomers Jan Hughes – secretary of the Scottsdale Rotary Club, small businessman Jerrod Nichols, Murray Lade – who is involved in local sport, mayoral candidate Edwina Powell, and heritage rail advocate Wendy McLennan secure a spot at the table.

Greg Howard, Dale Jessup, Max Hall, Leonie Stein are the only returning councillors. 

Incumbent mayor Greg Howard easily remained in the role with 64.07 per cent of the vote, with Dale Jessup replacing Max Hall as deputy mayor. 

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Flinders Island Council is the only northern council with 100 per cent of the vote counted. Annie Revie, Sharon Blyth, Peter Frank Rhodes, David Williams, Rachel Summers, Aaron Burke and Vanessa Grace will be the Flinders councillors for the next four years.

Only three incumbents on the former Flinders Island Council stood for re-election, and one of them has not made the cut: Chris Rhodes has been excluded.

Peter Rhodes and David Williams will both remain on council for the next four years, with David Williams also securing deputy mayor with 51.55 per cent of the vote. Besides those two there will be five new faces on what is a very fresh seven-member council, including first-timer Annie Revie as mayor.

It was incorrectly printed in The Examiner on Tuesday that Peter Rhodes was the incoming deputy mayor. However, the deputy mayor of Flinders Island Council has been confirmed as David Williams. 

Deputy mayor of George Town Council has been confirmed as incumbent Tim Harris, with 52.07 per cent of the vote.

It was a tight race for both key positions in George Town: incumbent mayor Bridget Archer scraped in with less than 51 per cent of the vote, but has been confirmed and will remain in the position.

Incumbent councillor Debbie Wisby has been confirmed by the TEC as the next mayor of Glamorgan Spring Bay.

She will replace outgoing mayor Michael Kent, who collected the lowest percentage of first preference votes out of the four candidates in the running.

Cr Wisby said she was feeling "relieved," and that she believed she had been elected because the community did not feel listened to under the former leadership.

She pointed to proposed mega-development Cambria Green, rezoning of land to be used by Tassal, and the multi-million dollar Buckland Dam, which is also in the pipeline, as examples of projects where the community did not feel they had an adequate say.

"There’s been a fair bit of angst in the community over the past couple of years on some larger decisions or proposals, and I think the council at some stage has lost its way on how to interact with people and show them respect, and to actually listen to their concerns," she said.

Cr Wisby said that under her leadership, non-permanent residents would be shown equal respect with permanent Glamorgan Spring Bay residents.

"They were referred to as ‘shackies,’ things like that, you know... and that's just unacceptable.

"The other thing too is that my focus is on core business of council, because we have a lack of footpaths, we need improvements to our roads and storm water, and people would like to have some certainty on what's going to be done and when.”

Wayne Johnston is the new mayor of Meander Valley Council.

He received 56.88 per cent of the votes, with Susie Bower his closest contender on 43.12 per cent.

Michael Kelly has also been re-elected as deputy mayor receiving 50.08 per cent of the votes. His closest contender was Tanya King with 34.68 per cent.

Councillors Deb White and John Temple are fighting for the final spot on the council.

Cr Mary Knowles is feeling "really, really excited" after being confirmed as mayor of the Northern Midlands by the TEC Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday night Cr Dick Adams was leading the count for mayor, but Cr Knowles woke up with a huge swing in her favour, securing 54.21 per cent of the vote against Dick Adams' 45.79 per cent.

She said that outgoing mayor David Downie, who did not stand for re-election, had left the Northern Midlands in "really good stead."

"There's heaps of projects around the municipality that are underway and there's heaps of possibilities, things for youth and all the communities big and small.

"I want to make sure that any services that we deliver come with good financial management.

"We need to be really mindful of our heritage, we've got beautiful heritage and we need to support our unique towns and make sure this stays a really great place to live."

Cr Knowles has an order of Australia, and is also an inductee on the Tasmanian Honour Roll for Women.

Incumbent deputy mayor Richard Goss will remain in the role, edging in by a nose with 50.93 per cent of the vote against Janet Lambert's 49.07 per cent.

This is the third in a run of near-misses for Cr Lambert, who was less than three per cent away from collecting 50 per cent of the vote in the state election, the legislative council, and now for deputy mayor of Northern Midlands.

West Tamar Council could be the only Northern council to have an unchanged table of councillors. 

With 50 per cent of the votes counted, and Wednesday’s final tally, newcomer Jess Greene faces a nervous wait for the next update. 

She is the only candidate still remaining in the count. 

“I’m feeling pretty nervous,” she said. “I think it’s unlikely that i will get elected, but i think I’ve done pretty well for a first time candidate.”

However, if Ms Greene is elected, it is likely Peter Kearney will lose his spot. 

But Cr Kearney said he was feeling okay. 

“It is what it is,” he said. “I guess because there hasn’t been too much of a change says that people are happy with what we’ve got.”