The Liberal party's Hunter council election campaign was thrown into chaos on Wednesday after the party failed to nominate in a number of council areas.
In what one party source described as a "huge administrative cock-up", some Hunter Liberal candidates appeared on the NSW Electoral Commission website after nominations closed at midday on August 14, while others were nervously waiting to find out if they had made the cut for the September 14 election.
No Liberal candidates appeared on the website's candidates page in Cessnock at 5pm on Wednesday and two out of four were missing in Maitland. However the final list of registered candidates will not be known until Thursday, ahead of ballot draws at 2pm.
In Newcastle, candidates for lord mayor, wards one, two and four appeared on the candidates page, but there was no Liberal ticket for ward three, where Matt Bailey was endorsed to run.
Local Liberal sources have expressed anger and frustration with the party headquarters over the blunder after candidates were told to send their nomination forms to head office to be lodged rather than submitting them directly.
One source described the situation as a "huge administrative cock-up", blaming "factional war mongering and gaming going on" which delayed the finalisation of some candidates until this week.
NSW Liberals state director Richard Shields said in a statement "unfortunately" the party was unable to nominate in all local government areas due to a lack of resourcing.
"The status of nominated Liberal candidates will be communicated upon confirmation from the NSW Electoral Commission," he said.
He apologised to Liberal-endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the wider party membership in general.
NSW Liberal Leader Mark Speakman declined to comment saying it was a matter for the state executive.
The final list of candidates is expected to be known on Thursday afternoon ahead of a ballot draw.
