Ms McLean resigned as mayor and as councillor on Friday afternoon following a week of intense pressure over her proposal to be a ‘fly-in, fly-out’ mayor from north Queensland.

The Victorian Electoral Commission will hold a countback at 11:30am on May 21 at the Ararat and Grampians Visitor Information Centre.

Vote countbacks are usually open to the public and, much like council election vote counts, involve a fairly rapid computer-generated result.

Votes and preferences for the 2016 election will be recounted to find the candidate who just missed out on election and provide them with an offer to take up the vacant seat on council.

Cr Allgood said on Friday that holding a vote countback, based on the 2016 election results, to fill the now-empty seat on council would save time and money compared with holding a brand new vote.

“It’s an opportunity for someone to come into the council and make their mark,” Cr Allgood said.

“it saves going back to the polls, which is always a drama.” 

Ararat Rural City will now face its second countback in less than six months, as Paul Hooper quit council last year in response to Cr McLean’s election as mayor.

Cr Bill Braithwaite was elected in his place, and it was him who last week moved the motion to declare no confidence in Cr McLean as mayor.

Victoria’s Local Government Minister has urged Ararat Rural City’s mayor to clarify her future intentions after Cr McLean demanded a meeting before stepping down as council leader.

Ararat Rural City councillors passed a motion of no confidence in Cr McLean as mayor during Tuesday night’s council meeting.

A motion calling on Cr McLean to resign as mayor and a councillor was also passed by four votes to two.

Cr Allgood said she abstained from voting on the first motion as she was the acting chair of the meeting but voted for the motion for Cr McLean to resign.

Last Friday, reports began to emerge that councilors had not been seen or heard from Cr McLean in weeks and that she had taken up a new job at North West Health in Mount Isa, 2600 kilometers from Ararat Rural City.