Wednesday afternoon the Victorian Electoral Commission announced it would conduct further scrutiny of first preference and informal ballot papers for the district of Ripon.

The decision followed Labor’s Sarah De Santis coming out ahead by a mere 31 votes in a two-party preferred count, which concluded on Tuesday evening.

Read more: More vote re-checking in Ripon to confirm count accuracy.

Community members expressed mixed feelings over the lengthy wait for an outcome nearly two weeks after Victorians went to the polls.  

Rosie Sanders of Ararat said that the third count is getting in the way of politicians doing their jobs.

“Everybody just needs a decision and to move on and get on with their jobs,” she said.

“We can recount and recount but we need to get on with things.”

Ararat’s Margaret Bell and Kevin Hull felt similarly.

“We’re looking forward to the results. It’s been a long time,” Mrs Bell said.

Mr Hull thought “they should declare the last one valid.”

Mick Thornbury agreed.

“All the public wants is to clear it up and get on with the job,” he said.

At the other end of the spectrum, many felt that the recount was necessary, like Ron Jenkinson of Willaura.

“I think they’re better off to get it right,” he said.

“If it takes three counts to get it right, so be it. It's so important.”

Peter Bell said the count was too close to not have a recount.

“If you’ve got to have a recount, you’ve got to. If it’s that close you should have one, and then we know where we’re going,” he said.