2026 Electoral Act amendments

Removal of group voting tickets

Group voting tickets have been removed from Legislative Council elections. 

Voting above or below the line

• When voting in state elections for the Legislative Council, also known as the upper house, you do not have to fill in all the boxes on the ballot paper.
• Voters will need to number at least 5 boxes in order of preference, either above or below the line.
• If you choose to vote above-the-line, write the number 1 to at least 5 in the boxes above the line for the parties or group you want to be elected, in order of your choice.
• If you choose to vote below-the-line, write the number 1 to at least 5 in the boxes below the line for the candidates you want to be elected, in order of your choice. 

Candidate groups

Upper house candidate groups must submit the order they wish their candidates to appear on ballot papers when submitting their group registration. 

These changes are supported by: 

• new provisions to preserve ballot paper formality
• updated registration requirements for Legislative Council how-to-vote cards 
• modified wording on voting instructions to be printed on ballot papers. 

There are some updates to political finance reforms. 

These changes mean:

• auditors must follow any VEC determination on what is and is not claimable as administrative expenditure funding
• VEC must publish a register of new entrants
• registered political parties must report to the VEC on any amounts they paid back to their former nominated entities that were received under the previous donation laws
• recipients of political donations who received multiple smaller donations between 15 April 2026 and 9 June 2026 that together exceeded the general cap, must not only disclose the donations but must also pay the amounts back to the donor by 17 September 2026

• Funding recipients have until 30 September 2026 to provide:
• a statement for policy development funding
• an annual return for administrative expenditure funding.

If you made or received a political donation of $1,250 or more between 15 April and 9 June 2026, you must:

• disclose the donation by 9 July 2026. This includes where multiple donations were made to the same recipient that total $1,250 or more.
• return any donation amounts received above the $5,030 general cap to the donor by 9 July 2026.

The period 15 April to 9 June 2026 is called the applicable period. This is the period between the High Court’s decision and when the new legislation to reintroduce Part 12 of the Electoral Act received Royal Assent from the Governor.

See our political donations page for more information.

Gifts between 15 April and 9 June 2026

Registered political parties that had nominated entities under the previous legislation must:

• disclose any gifts given to or received from a nominated entity from 15 April to 9 June 2026 that would have been above the $5,030 general cap, and
• return those gifts received from the nominated entity to the entity on or before 9 July 2026.

Nominated entities must also:

• disclose any gifts given to or received from a registered political party from 15 April to 9 June 2026 that would have been above the $5,030 general cap, and
• return those gifts received from the registered political party to the party on or before 9 July 2026.

Gifts before 15 April 2026

The new laws remove the provision for nominated entities and the exemptions that were previously in place for nominated entities. However, there are arrangements in place to manage gifts exchanged before the new laws came into place.

Registered political parties that had nominated entities under the previous legislation should be aware that they must repay any gifts received from the nominated entity above the general cap from 25 November 2018 to 14 April 2026 that were unspent in the political party’s state campaign account on 15 April 2026.

Repayment must occur before 28 November 2026, the day of the 2026 state election.

Registered political parties and independent candidates can apply to register as a new entrant if they are eligible. Registered new entrants can receive donations from a single donor up to twice the general cap amount.

A registered political party is eligible to register as a new entrant if they have:

• never received public funding for any previous state election, including by-elections
• not been eligible to receive administrative expenditure funding during the calendar year they are applying
• not been eligible to receive policy development funding during the calendar year they are applying.

An independent candidate is eligible to register if they have not received public funding for any previous state elections, including by-elections.

There are new thresholds and caps for political donations, including:

• a $1,250 disclosure threshold
• a $5,030 general cap on political donations from a donor to a recipient between 15 April and 28 November 2026. This cap will increase to $7,500 after the 2026 state election
• a $5,030 threshold for the amount of political donations received or political expenditure incurred for a person or entity to be considered a third-party campaigner
• a $100 limit on small contributions, which do not count towards the general cap or the disclosure threshold. Small contributions cannot be used to circumvent the disclosure threshold or general cap
• a ban on anonymous donations of $1,250 or more
• a ban on foreign donations.

The disclosure threshold and general cap are indexed on 1 July each year.

The new laws increased the amount payable to eligible funding recipients for administrative expenditure funding. They also maintained eligibility for the other 2 streams of political funding: policy development funding and public funding. All funding streams are subject to indexation.

Groups of Legislative Council candidates can ask for their public funding entitlement to be apportioned among them. This includes composite groups formed by more than one registered political party.

There are also new provisions to prevent funding recipients from claiming any credit, rebate, refund, reimbursement or other kind of reduction in tax liability under any law.

The new laws provide a way for us to recover funding from recipients in certain circumstances. This includes from de-registered political parties and independent elected members who were receiving funding and resign, die or join a registered political party.

There’s also greater discretion for the VEC to manage debts and enter into repayment agreements with advance public funding recipients. This includes situations such as when overpayments are identified following a funding recipient’s statement of expenditure.

The new laws allow us to determine what is considered electoral expenditure and political expenditure. This will provide clear rules for auditors to follow.

• The electoral roll will now close at 8 pm on the day the writ for an election is issued. The writ is the legal document that officially starts the election process.
• For the 2026 state election, voters must enrol or update their enrolment details by 8 pm on Tuesday 3 November (Melbourne Cup Day).

Check your enrolment details and sign up for free VoterAlert email and SMS reminders about enrolment and voting.

We will complete a full distribution of preferences in all 88 Legislative Assembly districts to ensure the final 2CP margin is accurate.

• The close of all types of candidate nominations is now 6 days after the issue of writs.
• For the 2026 state election, the close of all types of candidate nominations is 9 November 2026.

• A Registered Political Party (RPP) can now withdraw the nomination of a candidate before nominations close.
• To do this, the RPP must lodge a notice with the VEC, provide written notice to the candidate, and confirm the candidate is aware the party intends to withdraw their endorsement.

• Early voting cannot start earlier than 10 days before election day.
• For the 2026 state election, early voting cannot start earlier than 18 November 2026.

• There are new rules to regulate which kinds of electoral material need to be authorised.
• The requirement to include printer details has been removed for electoral material, but remains for how-to-vote cards (both registered and unregistered, and both printed and electronic). 

• Nominations for party-endorsed and independent candidates, as well as Legislative Council group registration close at 12 noon, 6 days after the writ is issued.
• Registration for How-to-vote card (HTVC) will open before group voting ticket registration closes.
• Candidates submitting Legislative Council HTVC are encouraged to wait until group voting ticket registration has closed before lodging their material.

• The deadline to register a political party has been brought forward by 60 days. Political party registration will now close 180 days before a general election.
• Groups that want to register a new political party for the 2026 state election, or existing registered parties seeking to change their name or logo, should submit their application by Monday 1 June 2026.
• Applications cannot be processed during a state election period or before the writ is returned although groups can still prepare and submit applications during this time.
• Party applications that do not meet Victoria’s registration requirements may be refused.
• To reduce the risk of misleading voters, parties cannot use a name, logos or abbreviation that closely resemble those of another registered political party from the previous 10 years.

For more information about the registration process, please contact us at rppregistration@vec.vic.gov.au.

• Silent electors will have their address removed from the public electoral roll, and where possible, from documents current or previously published by the VEC.
• If a supplementary election is held following a failed election, the electoral roll will not be updated. However, if you become a silent elector after the close of the roll of the failed election and before the day the writ is issued for the supplementary election, your address will be removed from the roll of the supplementary election.