CAROLYN Byrne might be close to securing a seat at Tweed Shire Council but this "unknown" candidate has no time to watch the numbers coming in.

"I'm not one of those people who are worried about those sort of things (polling numbers)"," she said.

Ms Byrne is sitting sixth on first preferences taking 2736 (6.88%) votes.

Her results and preferences from Warren Polglase should be enough to get her over the line.

"I am quietly confident," Ms Byrne said.

"But the complexity of the system is bizarre."

Ms Byrne said she was delighted with the number of first preference votes she received.

"I'm an unknown so I'm delighted with the support from individuals," she said.

"I don't know why… a new face… I'm honest and have integrity... I went to all the meet and greets."

Ms Byrne said she was disappointed with the number of informal votes (6579) made on the day of the election.

"A lot of people were just unaware that they had to vote on Saturday," she said.

"We had to deal with that all day."

THE COUNT

Here's where counting is at as of 11am today:

1. Warren Polglase - 16.15%

2. Katie Milne - 14.58%

3. Michael Armstrong - 12.10%

4. Barry Longland - 9.03%

5. Phil Youngblutt - 7.02%

6. Carolyn Byrne - 6.30%

7. Gary Bagnall - 6.13%

8. Dot Holdom - 4.29%

9. Kaye Sharples - 4.10%

10. Bruce Campbell - 3.45%