Electoral Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2026

The Victorian election in November may become the first since 2003 to operate without group voting tickets (GVTs) in the Legislative Council. The Electoral Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2026, introduced and passed by the Legislative Assembly in the sitting week of 28 July 2026, proposes to abolish GVTs. A new paper from the Library provides a summary of the Bill and a short history explaining the role GVTs have played in Victorian elections.

GVTs allow voters to cast a single above-the-line vote, with their preferences distributed according to party-registered tickets. Over time, concerns have grown that preference deals between parties have enabled candidates with very low primary votes to be elected through preference-harvesting arrangements, often organised by so-called ‘preference whisperers’.

After several inquiries recommending removing GVTs, the government introduced a Bill last sitting week repealing the provisions that allow GVTs. The provisions in the Bill allow voters to directly allocate preferences rather than having them mediated by political parties and candidates. The Bill also includes measures to reduce informal voting and to strengthen political finance transparency through new disclosure requirements and the publication of information about newly registered parties and candidates.

This paper includes an overview of the history and context of GVTs and how they came to be controversial, an outline of the major provisions in the Bill, and stakeholder responses to the change.