Campaigners play an important role in Victorian elections. If you are campaigning outside a voting centre, there are rules you must follow to make sure everyone can participate fairly and safely in our democracy, including what you can and can't do within 6 m, 100 m, and 400 m of the designated entrance to a voting centre.

Designated entrances are marked with an official VEC sign, and some voting centres may have more than one inside the voting centre and within 6 m of an entrance. You can't canvas for votes, run exit polls, or display any campaign signs.  Between 6 and 100 m of the entrance is the limited sign zone where there are limits on the number and size of signs that can be displayed by candidates and registered political parties in relation to the election. As always, signs must also be correctly authorised.

Mobile billboards aren't permitted at all within the limited sign zone.

Election officials can remove a sign if it doesn't comply with the requirements.

Check the VEC website and the campaigner handbook for more information to ensure your signs are compliant.

If you are handing out how to vote cards on election day, you can only distribute registered how to vote cards within 400 metres of a designated entrance to a voting centre. While how to vote cards  handed out during early voting don't need to be registered, all how to vote cards are electoral material and must be correctly authorised.

Special arrangements will be made for mobile voting centres to ensure eligible voters can access registered how to vote cards.

All campaigners have the right to campaign fairly and safely and all voters have the right to vote freely and safely. If you're feeling intimidated or threatened, tell an election official straight away or make a complaint via the VEC website.

Some voting centres may be close to busy roads or far from public amenities. While we will make every attempt to secure sites with amenities that you along with VEC staff can use, if you're campaigning all day, plan ahead as we can't guarantee amenities at voting centres. Always stay aware of your surroundings and remember to look after yourself and others. The VEC is responsible for the safety of everyone visiting a voting centre, including our staff, voters, and campaigners. We encourage you to register with us and get a safety briefing from an election official when you arrive to campaign outside a voting centre.

Help us keep a safe and respectful space outside voting centres so all Victorians can actively participate in their democracy.

Election officials will regularly check that everyone is following the rules.

For more information, go to vec.vic.gav.au and download the campaigner handbook.

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.

During voting hours on election day, the only electoral material allowed to be distributed within 400 m of the designated entrance to voting centres are registered how to vote cards.

A how to vote card contains a representation of a ballot paper or a suggestion about how to vote. It may include a suggested order for numbering the candidates or how to preference a particular candidate or a group. Anyone can produce, authorise, and apply to register a how to vote card, not just candidates and political parties.

Every how to vote card must carry an authorisation statement as well as the printers details. Registered how to vote cards must also include a statement that the card is registered by the Victorian Electoral Commission. If a how to vote card is going to be handed out within 400 m of the entrance to a voting centre on election day, it must be registered.

On election day, an election manager or election official can ask a person they reasonably suspect to be distributing unregistered how to vote cards to produce their how to vote cards for inspection and hand over all unregistered cards.

It's also against the law to hand out how to vote cards that falsely say they are registered.

Registered how to vote cards will be uploaded to the VEC website.

You can also provide registered how-to vote cards to the election manager for them to be carried by mobile voting teams.

How to vote cards handed out at early voting centres or more than 400 m from a voting center on election day don't have to be registered by the VEC. However, they still need to be properly authorised just like all electoral material.

Remember, a how to vote card is just a suggestion. Voters don't have to follow it, and it's up to each voter to decide how they want to vote.
 
How to vote cards can only be registered during the registration period, and there are strict requirements to make sure voters aren't misled.

Check the candidate handbook for the full list of requirements and how to register, how to vote cards. For more information, visit vec.vic.gov.au