Greens candidate for Prahran Sam Hibbins
The Greens have won their second seat in the Victorian Parliament, with the seat of Prahran falling from the Liberals on Tuesday night.
The Victorian Electoral Commission confirmed shortly after 8pm that the Greens won the seat by a slim margin of 261 votes.
"I have received the word that the official count is over .. and the Greens are 261 votes in favour," VEC spokeswoman Mary Sammut said.
"These are our provisional results and we will schedule a declaration."
Candidate Sam Hibbins hit the front for the first time on Tuesday night after preferences were distributed. The seat was held by Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown.
Greens officials were confident on Tuesday evening after a dramatic rise in contention after Mr Hibbins overtook Labor's Neil Pharaoh in first preferences on Tuesday afternoon.
But Mr Pharaoh said the seat was still too close and call and was not prepared to concede defeat.Bob Brown
"It's definitely been an interesting ride and it's not over yet," he said late on Tuesday. "I wouldn't be calling it if the situation was reversed."
Mr Pharaoh requested a recount of votes on Monday, and said there were a large number of anomalies in the process.
Mr Hibbins is set to join the new Greens member for Melbourne, Ellen Sandell, who clinched victory from Labor's Jennifer Kanis.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown tweeted on Tuesday night that Mr Hibbins' victory paved the way for marriage equality.
Greens Sam Hibbins' win in Prahran over Liberals paves way for equal marriage and the Great Forest National Park. NB: Tony Abbott. — Bob Brown (@BobBrownFndn) December 9, 2014
Prahran has been the closest seat in counting following Labor's election victory, with Mr Newton-Brown leading Mr Pharaoh by fewer than 100 votes.
Mr Newton-Brown held a lead of 41 votes on Monday, and the VEC spent Tuesday redistributing preferences.
Before the election, Mr Newton-Brown held Prahran with a margin of 4.7 per cent.
Mr Newton-Brown won the seat in 2010 from Labor's Tony Lupton.
Prahran is a seat in which the Greens have polled well in recent years, with a primary vote of about 20 per cent in the 2010 and 2006 elections.
Mr Hibbins, who holds a Bachelor of Social Science and an advanced diploma in Liberal Arts, was a councillor for South Ward in Stonnington Council.
More to come
With Nick Toscano, Henrietta Cook
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