Original sentence: Counting was not yet complete at the time, and by most estimates Howard would have needed a majority of mail-in and absentee ballots to retain his seat, which was deemed improbable.Howard had been 206 votes ahead of McKew on the first count, and finished 2.8 percentage points behind McKew on the estimated two-party vote.In the 24 November election, Howard and his Coalition government were defeated, losing 23 seats — the fourth-worst defeat of an incumbent government since Federation
Edited sentence: Although counting was not yet complete at the time, by most estimates Howard would have needed an improbable majority of mail-in and absentee ballots to retain his seat.Howard had been only 206 votes ahead of McKew on the first count, and finished 2.8 percentage points behind McKew on the estimated two-party vote.In the 24 November election, Howard and his Coalition were soundly defeated, losing 23 seats — the fourth-worst defeat of an incumbent government since Federation