By PEACE IJIYERA

 

WITH less than 90 days until the Victorian state election (November 28), Victorian Electoral Commissioner, Sven Bluemmel hosted a media briefing session at the Morwell Library last Friday (September 4).

For the hour-long session, Mr Bluemmel spoke about the election and some changes that will be seen.

In terms of scale, he described the upcoming election as “the biggest election in Victoria ever”, with around 4.7 million Victorians expected to be enrolled to vote.

Voters are advised to enrol or update their enrollment by November 3.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) anticipates fewer people voting on election day and rather an increase in early voting, expecting 60 per cent of people expected to vote early.

In Victoria, residents do not need a reason to vote early or via post.

Early voting centres will be open from November 18 to 27, 9am to 6pm, except on November 22.

Early voting centre locations will become voting centres on election day. Information about early voting locations is to come.

For an election to run effectively, workers are needed. The VEC is looking for around 25,000 people to work as casuals during the election. A paid job, the role goes beyond crossing names off a list. Workers are also needed for warehouse and logistics roles. Training is provided and workers don’t require previous experience. (Register here: https://vec.vic.gov.au/electionwork).

This year, there has been three sets of changes to the electoral Act.

The first change is regarding the timelines and processes for the elections.

Deadlines for party registration were brought forward due to the lengthy process of verifying political parties. The registration of new parties or changes to parties needed to be completed by June 1.

The second change was the High Court’s ruling that struck out the entirety of the funding and disclosure section of the Victorian electoral Act. Donations to political parties were required to be disclosed and couldn’t be anonymous over a certain amount.

Donation caps were also in place. However, there was an exemption on donation caps for nominated entities which included those associated with the Labor, Liberal and National party. This exemption was challenged in the High Court on the basis of being unfair to new party entrants and independents, among other issues.

The High Court found Part 12 of the Electoral Act 2002 (funding and disclosure section) to be invalid. New funding and disclosure laws were introduced, and the Victorian Parliament passed the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 in June, reintroducing Part 12 of the Electoral Act 2002.

The third change is the removal of group voting tickets (GVTs) for the Victorian Legislative Council (upper house) elections.

In previous elections, those voting above the line would just write ‘1’ in the box for the group they preferred.

Their preferences were then distributed to candidates below the line according to the order chosen by the party or group. Voters can still vote above or below the line, but they now need to number at least five boxes in order of preference.

When voting above the line, voters must number at least five boxes for their preferred parties or groups.

When voting below the line, voters must number at least five boxes for the candidates in their preferred order.

Electronic roll mark offs will be available in this year’s election for about 70 per cent of voters. The benefits of this are it makes the process quicker in finding names and addresses. It also makes it easier for the VEC, so they can see where people are voting. This helps them keep track of where to send ballot material, ensuring voting centres don’t run out.

One low-sensory mobile voting facility will be available in every district. This option is available for neurodiverse voters. Voters can expect dim lighting, reduced noise and generally more space. These will be open on November 17 from 10am to 4pm.

Leading up to the election, 300 education sessions will be held across the state. The VEC will also mail out three million EasyVote guides to households. In the guide, voters can find information about the election.

There will also be an increase of 322 to 400 in person mobile voting services for aged care facilities, hospitals, homelessness shelters and prisons.

For information regarding the election and voting, individuals are urged to visit the VEC’s website at: vec.com.au