Seal not required for election writ to be legally binding

^{By Renee Davidson}

A video widely shared on social media casts doubt on the legitimacy of the 2018 Victorian state election based on unfounded claims that the election writ was not legally valid. 

The video, streamed live on Facebook, features Leszek Kunc, the leader of the Solidarity Movement of Australia, which has been active in protests against COVID lockdowns and vaccines. 

In the video, viewed more than 6,700 times, Mr Kunc claims the Victorian election was illegitimate because the election writ - the official letter issued by the Governor of Victoria ordering an election be held - did not carry an official seal.  

While showing viewers a copy of the election writ, Mr Kunc says: “As you can see, that writ was signed by [Governor of Victoria] Linda Dessau on the 30th of October 2018.” 

“You can see there’s no logo, no state logo,” Mr Kunc says in the video. “That cannot be a legal document which decides about our government.” 

He continues to point out that the “Great Seal of Victoria” is not marked anywhere on the writ and concludes that the election is “fraudulent because it is not documented properly”.

The live comments under the video suggest that people agree, with one person claiming “no seal then it is corrupted” and another stating “everyone in parliament is sitting illegally”. 

Similar claims about writs requiring a seal for an election to be legal have been made in the lead up to Victoria’s 2022 election by the Freedom Party of Victoria, which is critical of Premier Daniel Andrews and COVID mandates. 

Deputy leader of the Freedom Party of Victoria, Aidan McLindon, claimed that a seal was required to make an election legally valid. "What is a writ? A writ is the piece of paper that the monarch says to the government ‘you must provide a piece of paper to the Governor in Victoria to make sure you get it sealed so the election can take place lawfully’,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.

But the claims are false. According to the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) the state’s electoral act does not require an official seal for an election writ to be legitimate. 

VEC manager, communication, Ms Marie Guerin, told RMIT FactLab “a seal is not required in the issuing of the writs for a state election”. 

“All that is required is the signature of the Governor of Victoria,” she said. “Now, that's very clearly set out in the Electoral Act 2002.”

The Victorian Electoral Act 2002, and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, state that a writ requires the signature of the state governor. They do not indicate that a seal is required in order for the writ to be legally valid. 

The VEC has listed the claim on its Misinformation Register. It has also been fact checked by AAP FactCheck and found to be false.

_{Thumbnail photo: Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau issues the Writs to Warwick Gately AM, Electoral Commissioner, for the 2022 State Election. Credit: Parliament of Victoria Facebook, courtesy Governor of Victoria.}