More waiting for Vic upper house result

The result of Victoria's upper house vote won't be known for more than a week thanks to a rise in below-the-line votes.

The make-up of Victoria's upper house won't be known for at least another week thanks to a huge number of below-the-line votes.

With a large number of micro-parties swapping preferences, the Victorian Electoral Commission expects final results won't be known until at least December 16.

Ballot papers from around Victoria have been taken to Etihad Stadium for processing before the counting process can officially begin.

The massive increase in below-the-line voting means the ballots have to be processed before they can be included in the count.

"We've doubled the number of people who have voted below the line, so it is a little more complicated," a VEC spokeswoman said.

In 2010 about four per cent of voters voted below the line, but in 2014 the figure could be as high as eight per cent.

The VEC said each ballot paper would be double data-entered to ensure the accurate recording of preferences.

Meanwhile, preference sorting has started in two of the closest seats at the November 29 election, with no party willing to concede or claim victory.

Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown is 41 votes ahead of Labor's Neil Pharaoh on a two-party preferred basis in Prahran.

But Mr Pharaoh is only 426 votes ahead of third-placed Greens candidate Sam Hibbins, who could end up sliding ahead of Mr Pharaoh once the Animal Justice Party preferences are distributed.

Labor's Paul Edbrooke is 336 votes ahead of Liberal Sean Armistead in Frankston on a two-party preferred basis, but with 12 other candidates, both are waiting for the full preference distribution before claiming victory or conceding defeat.


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