Online votes through the iVote system have been counted and were included in the tally as of Thursday 9 December.

Declaration votes have also been added - which captures people whose name was not on the electoral roll or who needed to update their enrolment details - but 'declared' their address to be in the shire. They were required to show proof of identity and address when they voted in person on 4 December. 

Postal votes continue to be added to the count as they trickle in. Once the deadline for the receipt of postal votes passes on 17 December, the critical distribution of preferences begins and history has shown it has the capacity to drastically change the fortunes of many would-be councillors.

Most western plains communities will not know their final council line-up until Tuesday 22 December.

The tables below cover those councils without wards where residents voted in the election. Tables have been complied from the NSW Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room as at close of business on 9 December.

Bogan

The tally for Bogan Shire was updated at 8:51pm on Thursday 9 December.

Of the 1920 registered electors living in or outside the shire, 1434 votes have been counted, a 74.68% turnout. So far 26 information votes have been recorded.

Long-serving councillor Neil Glenn has seized 23.3% of the first preference votes counted so far, with newcomer Karl Bright running second on 14.35%.

Other sitting councillors, Graham Jackson and Victoria Boag, look set to join them.

Brewarrina 

Former Deputy Mayor Vivian Slack-Smith has stormed home in Brewarrina with a current slice of 26.22% of the votes, giving her an unassailable lead. 

Next in line is Tom Stanton with 17.79% of the 546 votes counted so far. 

Just 12 votes have been deemed informal. There are 891 registered voters in Bre Shire so a potential, but unlikely, 345 votes could arrive in the post.

Ten candidates are in the contest for nine seats but it is not yet clear who will miss out on the final berth as there are currently just four votes between the three lowest ranking candidates with distribution of preferences to come. 

Coonamble 

The first past the post for Coonamble shire is former mayor Tim Horan and second in line is the incumbent mayor Ahmad (Al) Karanouh. 

The inclusion of the iVotes has seen candidates shift positions with Barbara Deans jumping from 12th position to 7th while Terry (Eccles) Lees fell from 8th to 11th since the first round of counting on Saturday 4 December. 

There are 2732 registered voters in the Coonamble Shire and so far 2095 votes have been counted, with a potential 637 votes still to come in. 

This amounts to a 76.6% turnout so far which is already well above the 2018 By-Election for Coonamble Shire when 69.64% of voters turned out, and a couple of points higher than the 2016 general council elections which saw a 74.34% turnout. 

Of the votes so far, there were 39 informal votes which are considered invalid. 

Gilgandra 

There are 11 candidates vying for the nine councillor positions on Gilgandra Shire Council and there has been little change in rankings since the election night count on 4 December. 

It quickly became apparent that former council General Manager and long-time resident Paul Mann would be welcome back at council and will secure a seat as a councillor.

As of Thursday 9 December he had received 13.52% of the first preference votes. 

Not far behind was previous Deputy Mayor Ash Walker with 13.28%. 

Although positions have not shifted since the first round of vote counting closed, at this stage it is hard to say who will not make the running, with only 5 votes separating the bottom three candidates - Nicholas White, Greg Peart and Helen Naef. 

There have been 2,533 votes received and counted so far out of a possible 3,166 registered voters so an impressive 80% turnout by Gilgandra Shire residents. 

Among the total votes counted there have been 56 informal or invalid votes or 2.2% of the total. 

Walgett 

With the largest number of candidates striving for a position on the nine seat council and several scattered and unique communities to represent, the field for Walgett Shire seems to have split in three. 

Of the nineteen candidates, there are eight with less than 100 votes each, seven whose seat seems secure and four for whom a small handful of postal votes could really make the difference in terms of first preference votes. 

However, with preferences still to be shared, there is still plenty of room for surprises. 

So far 2544 of the 3638 registered voters have had their ballots counted, with 59 (2.32%) considered informal. 

Warrumbungle 

The merged Warrumbungle Shire has the highest population in the western plains region with 6900 registered voters and as at close of business on Thursday 9 December 5,633 votes had been counted. 

There seems to be a clear nine contenders among the first preferences with 76 votes separating Jack Ayoub in 10th position from Zoe Holcombe in 9th. 

However, more postal votes may yet arrive and preferencing has been known to see lower ranked candidate leap frog their way onto council.