To be a candidate for a State election you must be correctly enrolled on the electoral roll in Victoria. You are not eligible to nominate for either the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council if you are:
- not enrolled as an elector;
- a judge of a court of Victoria;
- an elector who has been convicted or found guilty of an indictable offence, which is punishable upon first conviction by imprisonment for life, or for a term of five years or more. This offence must have been committed when aged 18 years or over, under the law of Victoria, or under the law of any other part of the British Commonwealth of Nations;
- an undischarged bankrupt; or
- a member of either House of the Commonwealth Parliament.
Further information and requirements are contained in the
Constitution Act 1975 (external link).
If you are a municipal councillor, or are employed in the Victorian or Commonwealth Public Service, you are eligible to stand for election but will not be eligible to take office without first resigning from your previous position.
Candidates for registered political parties can only be nominated by the registered officer of the party. These nominations must be lodged with the VEC.
Candidates who are not endorsed by a political party must nominate with the election manager for the district they are nominating for. Candidates nominating for a Region may nominate with the Election manager for any district within the Region they are nominating for.
Independent candidates are encouraged to use the VEC's online Candidate Helper. Nomination forms are also available from any election manager, or on this website, whenever there is an election or by-election.
You can only nominate for one Legislative Assembly District or one Legislative Council Region. If someone nominates as a candidate in more than one district and/or region, all of their nominations are declared void.
Nominations for State elections can only be lodged after the issue of the writ and before the date specified for the close of nominations.
The deadline for candidates endorsed by a registered political party is 12 noon, one day before the close of nominations. This process is managed by each party's registered officer.
Late nominations cannot be accepted.
For the 2010 State election, nominations open on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, and close 12 noon on Friday, 12 November 2010.
Each candidate nomination must be accompanied by a deposit of $350. The deposit must be paid in cash or by banker's cheque, credit union or building society cheque. A personal cheque is not acceptable.
The deposit will be returned to the person who originally paid it, or someone authorised by that person, if the candidate:
- is elected;
- receives at least four percent of the first preference votes in the electorate;
- is a member of a designated group of candidates that receives four percent of the first preference votes (combined) in the electorate;
- retires before the close of nominations;
- dies before 6:00pm on election day; or
- if the election fails (an election can fail if the number of candidates is fewer than the number of positions).
All other candidates will forfeit their deposits.
Candidates do not need to live in the electorate for which they are standing.
Candidates will be provided with an electronic copy of the roll for the election they are contesting, free of charge. This file can be printed if required and will be in a format suitable for looking up names and mail-merging letters.
Each candidate must personally sign an electoral roll confidentiality agreement to ensure that the data is used solely for campaign purposes in relation to the election.
All copies of the roll that are provided to candidates must be destroyed or returned after the declaration of the result for that election.
Please read the page on how-to-vote cards for specific information about registering and distributing how-to-vote cards.
Victorian electoral law provides for public funding of registered political parties and independent candidates in State elections and by-elections.
A dollar amount per first preference vote is provided to eligible candidates. This dollar amount was set at $1.20 under the Electoral Act 2002 and this figure is indexed against CPI every six months. At the most recent State by-election (Broadmeadows District in February 2011) the figure was $1.4849.
To receive this funding, a candidate must receive at least four percent of the first-preference votes. Registered political parties receive funding for their endorsed candidates, while candidates not endorsed by a registered political party receive funding themselves.
Parties and candidates receive funding only if they provide the VEC with an audited statement that their election spending has been no less than their entitlement. Parties and candidates that have spent less than their entitlement receive only the amount they have spent. The VEC has the power to request further information, and penalties apply if false statements are made.
See public funding paid at previous elections for more information.
There is no provision in Victorian electoral law for disclosure of parties' and candidates' financial affairs. There is provision for disclosure of donations and other financial matters under Commonwealth electoral law. For details, see the Australian Electoral Commission (external link).
Multiple candidates for a single region can register as a group for the purposes of the Legislative Council (Upper House) ballot paper.
Groups (or parties) can register one or more group voting tickets, which inform the voter how preferences will be directed for every vote 'above the line' for the group. Once a group voting ticket has been registered, that group is entitled to a box 'above the line' on the Upper House ballot paper.
When registering as a group a group representative can specify an identifying name for their group, as well as the order in which the group's members should be listed on the ballot paper.
Candidates can register their group using the Request for Group Registration form that is available in the Candidate Kit. Party representatives manage this process for political party candidates.
Requests to register as a group must be lodged with the VEC 24 hours before the close of nominations. For political parties this is also the closing time for nominations.
All candidates wishing to be included in the group must have nominated before the group registration request is submitted.
Candidates can not be included in more than one group.
