As voting of the first preference pre-poll, mail in and iVotes began only five candidates have secured their spots to sit on Council while there are a few spots that could shift with preference votes still to come.

At 9am on Friday morning with a progressive quota of 914 and 10,959 formal votes counted and a progressive total of 11,642 the first preference votes stood at:

The progressive quota was sitting at 914 meaning John Piper (927), Margaret Roles (1,446), Matthew Stadtmiller (1,428), Alison Foreman (1,776) and Brian Ingram (998) have secured their seats on Council.

Eleven candidates will be selected to sit on Hilltops Council.

As counting continues the tentative 11 Councillors at 9am on Thursday morning were:

However with some of the progressive totals in the remaining six candidates so close it will be very interesting to see how the preference votes will play out.

Either which way, at the time of going to print there are still six spots that were not secured.

On Monday when the Young Witness reported on the progressive tally with a quota of 364 votes the eleven were:

With the six spots still to be decided and the numbers in the remaining candidates so close it will come down to the wire to see who will cross the line.

The full and confirmed results are expected to be known by December 23 at the latest.

Locals can find and follow the Hilltops Council Virtual Tally Room by visiting https://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/LG2101/hilltops/councillor