South Australian councils have welcomed 18 new mayors across the state.
Seven sitting Mayors were defeated, and eleven were elected following retirements.
Thirty-three sitting Mayors were returned including 18 unopposed and 15 re-elected after successfully fighting off challenges.
Seven of the elected mayors are women.
Local Government Association of South Australia (LGASA) President, Mayor David O’Loughlin has congratulated successful contenders in the 2014 Council elections and has commended all 1261 candidates for well fought campaigns.
The election also saw an increase of voter numbers by 4000 over the 2010 elections, putting voter turnout at 31 percent.
The previous two elections had a voter turnout of 31.6 percent and 32.4 percent.
“This is on par with voter turnout for Local Government in the US and the UK,” Mayor O’Loughlin said.
“Australia is out of step with the world in having compulsory voting but it appears we will continue to debate whether it should be applied to Local Government here at every election.”
Mayor O’Loughlin again congratulated the Electoral Comission of South Australia and the band of vote counters and scrutineers who have worked over the weekend to provide provisional figures.
“It has been no mean feat to count votes and apportion preferences from around 600,000 ballot papers for 1261 candidates in 189 separate elections for 629 positions in 65 Councils.
“I also thank the members of our communities who answered the call and voted for Council Members to lead their communities for the next four years.”
