You can campaign at any time, even before the official start of a State or local council election period.

When campaigning, consider the following:

• All electoral campaign material must be properly authorised so it is clear who is accountable for it.
• All non-electoral laws, such as those relating to defamation, still apply.
• You must not distribute material that is likely to mislead voters into voting incorrectly.
• Disclosure of political donations rules apply in Victorian State elections.

How-to-vote cards

A how-to-vote card is a pamphlet prepared by a party, group or independent candidate that indicates how they want you to fill out your ballot paper.

How-to-vote cards are handed out near voting centres. You do not have to take these if you don't want to, and it is your choice whether you follow a how-to-vote card when you vote.

During an election, anyone can register a how-to-vote card with us. They must represent a formal vote (a correctly filled out ballot paper).

Depending on the type of election, there are rules for when and where you can hand out how-to-vote cards.

State elections

During the hours of voting on election day, only registered how-to-vote cards may be handed out within 400 metres of a voting centre.

How-to-vote cards distributed during the early voting period do not have to be registered but must be authorised.

How-to-vote cards carried by mobile voting teams must be registered.

How-to-vote card archive

You can browse an archive of all how-to-vote cards registered for the 2018 State election.  

They can be sorted by:

• district
• region
• party
• independent candidate
• non-candidates (community groups and other).

This archive will be available until 5 pm on Friday 7 October 2022. After this time, we will remove it so there is no overlap between this archive and the how-to-vote cards registered for the 2022 State election.

Browse archive 

More information

For more information about your responsibilities you can:

• read a candidate handbook
• read about Victoria's political donations laws
• read relevant legislation, such as the Electoral Act 2002 or Local Government Act 2020
• seek independent legal advice.