Victorian voters have not “been conned” - the election writs are in order

^{By Renee Davidson,}

Just days out from the Victorian state election, social media users are spreading a message on Facebook that falsely declares that the election is fraudulent because voting centres have failed to provide a copy of the election writs. 

The message, which has been copied and pasted in several Facebook posts and widely shared across the platform, begins by claiming that Victorian voters “have all been conned” because a “lawful writ does not exist”. 

The election writs are the official documents issued by the Governor of Victoria ordering an election be held. 

“The facts are that no valid WRITS exist to enable this November election to be valid,” the message says. 

“If anyone takes the time to ask their local polling booth manager for a copy of the WRIT the answer will be that they do not have it.”

This message is signed by someone called Lyn Bennetts Velvet Revolution. The Facebook page has more than 1,160 followers and contains posts instructing Victorians on how to vote. Other posts contain conspiracy theories about COVID and the war in Ukraine.

In the message about writs, Victorians are called upon to follow a series of instructions on polling day:

“Ask for the ELECTION WRIT, you are to ignore the excuses, and state ‘this is a crime scene’ then without hesitation 2 or 3 are to peacefully go to the closest or Local Police Station and report the crime of ‘electoral fraud’.” 

But the claims are false. According to the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), an election writ does not need to be made publicly available for an election to be legitimate. 

VEC manager, communication, Ms Marie Guerin, told RMIT FactLab that “there is absolutely no requirement under the law for us to publicly display the writ”. 

“There is no requirement for the writ to be displayed anywhere, including at voting centres,” she said. 

The writs for the 2022 Victorian state election were signed by the governor and issued to the VEC on November 1, 2022, she said. 

“It was filmed by Sky News, and that footage is publicly available,” she said. “And it was also recorded in the Victorian Government Gazette on that day.” 

The Sky News footage is available here and the record in the Victorian Government Gazette is available here. 

The VEC has listed the claim on its Misinformation Register.