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How to nominate

The nomination process is different for independent candidates and registered political party candidates.

Independent candidates must nominate at the election office of the electorate they're nominating in. For Legislative Assembly (district/lower house) candidates, this will be the relevant district election office. For Legislative council (upper house) region candidates, this is any district election office within the relevant region.

Election offices will be co-located in election hubs for the 2026 state election.

Candidate Helper is now available to help you prepare your nomination.

We strongly encourage you to use this tool to generate and print your nomination form before nominations open on Wednesday 4 November. There’s more information on how to use Candidate Helper below or in the candidate handbook.

Registered political parties must lodge their endorsed candidates’ nominations forms and the nomination deposit with us directly.

Go to Candidate Helper

Having technical issues with Candidate Helper?

State election 2026: How to nominate

Interested in becoming a candidate at the upcoming state election? In this video, we cover what it takes to nominate, eligibility criteria, and where to start in your candidate journey.

Nominations for the 2026 Victorian state election open on Wednesday 4 November and close at 12 noon on Monday 9 November.
Video Transcript

Running for a Victorian state election is a great opportunity to step up and represent your community.

To nominate as an independent candidate or as a candidate endorsed by a registered political party, here's what you need to know. First, confirm that you're eligible. You must be an Australian citizen over 18 and enrolled to vote in Victoria.

There are also factors that could disqualify you from becoming a candidate. Be sure to check the VEC website for more information. If you want to run as an independent
candidate, you'll need support for your nomination from six people if you want to run for a district in the Legislative Assembly or 50 people if you want to run for a region in the Legislative Council. These nominators must be enrolled to vote in the district or region that you are nominating for.

If you're endorsed by a registered political party, your nomination will be managed by the registered officer of the political party.

Political donation rules start as soon as you publicly announce you are running as a candidate, even if you don't end up officially nominating.

If you make or receive a political donation, you may need to disclose it using our online system within 21 days of the donation.

Donations from overseas and anonymous donations over the disclosure threshold are banned.

To nominate as an independent candidate, you can prepare your forms online using our candidate helper tool.

Then contact the election manager in your district or region to book a nomination appointment.

A deposit of $350 is required to lodge your nomination. You'll need to bring the deposit in cash with a printed copy of your forms to your appointment. We can't accept payments by card. We'll refund your deposit if you're elected or if you receive at least 4% of the first preference votes in your district or region election.

If you're a party endorsed candidate, the registered officer of the party will lodge your nomination on your behalf and pay the nomination deposit.

Before you start, make sure you understand the rules about electoral material, campaigning, and political donations. You can find everything you need to know about being a candidate on the VEC website or in the candidate handbook. If you have any questions, we're here to help.

For more information, visit vec.vvic.goav.au.


Nomination steps for independent candidates

  • Step 1: Check your eligibility

    You must be enrolled to vote in Victoria to become a candidate.

    You don’t need to live in the district or region you’re nominating in.

    Your nomination does need to be supported by people who are enrolled to vote in that district or region. 

    Seek independent legal advice if you’re not sure if you’re eligible to nominate. 

    You can only nominate in one district or one region. If you nominate as a candidate in more than one electorate, all your nominations become void.

  • Step 2: go to Candidate Helper

    Open Candidate Helper and click 'start a new form'.  

    Select the district or region you want to nominate for and click 'Nomination form'. 

  • Step 3: add your details

    Fill in:

    • your name
    • your date of birth
    • your enrolled address (you can check this using Check my enrolment)
    • your postal address (if it's different to your enrolled address). ). Rural addresses must include any RMB or RSD numbers.
    • contact details that we will use to contact you throughout the election. You must also provide public contact information to be published on our website. For example, candidate4district@email.com and/or a dedicated campaign phone number.
  • Step 4: check your details

    Confirm the way you want your name to appear on the ballot paper.

    Then you can provide contact details for an additional person, such as a campaign manager. These details will be published on our website after you have nominated.

    You must also provide public contact information to be published on our website. For example, candidate4district@email.com or a dedicated campaign phone number.

  • Step 5: Print your form

    Then, under the ‘Print Form’ heading, click ‘Nomination form’ to print your nomination form. You will need a program that can open PDFs to open this file.

    Take note of your reference number in the top right-hand corner also.

  • Step 6: provide details of your nominators

    District candidates must have support from at least 6 people enrolled in the district you're nominating for. These people must provide their full name, address, date of birth and signature.

    Region candidates must have support from at least 50 people enrolled in the region you're nominating for. These people must provide their full name, address, date of birth and signature.

    We recommend you provide the details of more people than are required in case we cannot find some of them on the roll.

  • Step 7: sign your form

    Sign the declaration on the nomination form. Your form is now ready for you to bring to your nomination appointment.

    • Registered political party candidates

    If you're a candidate endorsed by a registered political party, your political party will lodge your nomination form and pay your nomination deposit on your behalf.

    Candidate resources

    Please read the 2026 state election candidate handbooks to help you prepare for the election period. 

    There is also:

    • a scrutineer handbook 
    • a campaigner handbook.

    You should be familiar with these handbooks and provide them to anyone who is scrutineering or campaigning on your behalf. 

    The candidate kit, which includes nomination forms, will be available online in October. You can also pick up hard copies of the candidate kit and all handbooks at an election office from Wednesday 4 November.

    Becoming a candidate means that you have responsibilities to disclose your political expenditure. To help you understand your obligations please read our Funding and Disclosure supplement. 

    Candidate resources