Clive Palmer will have to wait at least another week to find out if he's made it into the federal parliament.
On Friday, the mining magnate was leading Liberal National Party opponent Ted O'Brien by just 42 votes in a recount for the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax.
A high number of ballot challenges means the process is dragging out.
The Australian Electoral Commission is unsure of when it will wind up, but says it'll be at least another week.
"We're definitely going into next week that's for sure and we may need the following week as well," the AEC's Phil Diak told AAP.
Mr Diak said the AEC was mindful that November 13 was the last day for the return of writs.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicted he wants the new parliament to sit on the week beginning November 11. That can't happen until the Fairfax writ has been returned.
"We are working as quickly as we can," Mr Diak said.
Mr Palmer originally finished 36 more votes ahead of Mr O'Brien but his lead was whittled down to a mere seven votes after a full redistribution of preferences.
The full recount has now dragged on for eight days, with 50,099 of the 89,176 ballots challenged.
Of those, 38,644 have referred to the AEC in Brisbane for a decision.
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