# 2026 Victorian state election

The 2026 Victorian state election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026 to elect the 61st Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) will be up for election, presuming there are no new electorates added in a redistribution.
The Labor government, currently led by Premier Jacinta Allan, will attempt to win a record fourth consecutive four-year term against the Liberal/National Coalition opposition, currently led by Brad Battin.
The election will be administered by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

## Background
### Previous election and parliament

The Daniel Andrews-led Labor government was returned to power in 2014 after winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly at the 2014 state election. The Labor party was re-elected at the 2018 state election and again at the 2022 state election, winning 56 seats. The Liberal/National Coalition gained one seat to 28 seats, the Greens won 4 seats. In the Legislative Council, the Labor party won 15 of the 40 seats.
Daniel Andrews announced his resignation as Premier and leader of the Victorian Labor Party at a press conference on 26 September 2023; a resignation that was formally affected the following day. This precipitated a leadership election within the Labor party-room, which was won unopposed by Jacinta Allan following hours of intense negotiations between members of Labor's left and right factions. Allan, of the left, was elected to the leadership position and right-faction member Ben Carroll was elected deputy leader and deputy premier. Allan became the second female premier in the state's history, following Joan Kirner's 1990–1992 premiership. The government is seeking a fourth consecutive four-year term.
Following the Liberal/National Coalition's defeat, Opposition Leader and Liberal leader Matthew Guy announced in his post-election concession speech he would resign the leadership of the party. This ensured a leadership election was held for the position, at which newly elected member for Hawthorn John Pesutto defeated Brad Battin by one vote in a secret ballot of Liberal party-room MPs.
Since the 2022 state election, and the January 2023 supplementary election in Narracan there have been two by-elections; the August 2023 Warrandyte by-election, and the November 2023 Mulgrave by-election. In both votes the incumbent party's candidate was successful.
The Assembly's composition has been altered by the removal of Will Fowles and Darren Cheeseman from the Labor caucus in October 2023 and April 2024 respectively, with both now sitting on the crossbench as "Independent Labor" MPs. The resignation of Sam Hibbins from the Greens on 1 November 2024 also resulted in his sitting on the crossbench as an Independent MP until 23 November, whereupon he quit parliament.
The by-election for Hibbins' seat of Prahran will be held in February 2025. The 2025 Werribee state by-election will be held in 2025 following the resignation of incumbent member Tim Pallas, which was announced on 16 December 2024.
On 27 December 2024, a leadership spill resulted in Brad Battin replacing John Pesutto as leader of the Liberal/National Coalition.

## Electoral system

Eligible Victorian electors are required to cast a ballot due to compulsory voting laws. The eligibility criteria for enrolment to vote includes being 18 years or older, an Australian citizen, and to have lived in Victoria for longer than a month.

### Legislative Assembly

For the election of members to single seats of the Legislative Assembly, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) uses full preferential voting where for a vote to count, it is required to number every box on the ballot in the order of the most preferred candidate for the particular electoral district an elector is registered to vote in. The election will cover all 88 Seats of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

### Legislative Council

For the election of members to multi-member state regions in the Legislative Council the VEC uses optional preferential voting where voters can either vote for a political party or a group voting ticket 'above the line' or vote for individual candidates 'below the line'. Members of the Legislative Council represent state regions. There are currently eight state regions, they make up of eleven Legislative Assembly districts and are each represented by five members of Parliament in the Legislative Council.
When voting 'above the line', for a vote to count, voters are required to write the number 1 for the political party or group of candidates they prefer. Preferences will then be automatically distributed based on the registered preference order provided to the VEC by the group voting ticket.
When voting 'below the line', for a vote to count, voters are required to number a minimum of 5 boxes on the ballot in the order of their most preferred candidate.

## Registered parties

Parties registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC).
* Animal Justice Party
* Australian Greens
* Australian Labor Party
* Companions and Pets Party
* Democratic Labour Party
* Family First Victoria
* Freedom Party of Victoria
* Legalise Cannabis
* Liberal Democratic Party
* Liberal Party
* National Party
* New Democrats
* Pauline Hanson's One Nation
* Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
* Sustainable Australia Party
* Victorian Socialists
Additionally, The West Party was established in December 2024 and plans to be registered in time for the 2026 election.

## Candidates and retiring MPs

The following members announced that they were not contesting the 2026 election:

### Liberal

* Bill Tilley MLA (Benambra) – announced 13 March 2024

### National

* Peter Walsh MLA (Murray Plains) – announced 26 November 2024

## Date

In accordance to the timetable set out in the Electoral Act 2002 (VIC), the terms of elected officials to Victorian Parliament are on a fixed term basis. All elections since the 2006 have occurred every four years on the last Saturday of November. Unless the Governor of Victoria unexpectedly dissolves parliament, the election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026.

## Expected timeline of the election

* 3 November 2026: The Legislative Assembly expires prompting the need for an election to be held. This also means that there are no longer any members, business of parliament ends until a new parliament is formed, and parliament enters into a caretaker period.
* 3 November 2026: On the same day that the Legislative Assembly expires, the Governor of Victoria issues a writ for the VEC to hold an election.
* 10 November 2026: 7 days after the writ is issued, at 8:00 pm, the electoral roll is closed meaning people can no longer be added to the electoral roll, update the electorate they live in, or update any other information.
* 13 November 2026: 10 days after the writ is issued, at noon, the period for submitting candidate nominations closes.
* 28 November 2026: The last Saturday of November, nearest to the fourth year following of the previous election date, is the Election Day.
* 19 December 2026: Within 21 days following election day, the Electoral Commissioner returns the writ with information regarding the successful candidates.

## Pre-electoral pendulum

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