A Facebook video claims the Indigenous voice referendum is a fraud because no writ was issued for the House of Representatives for the 2022 federal election.
This is false. All writs – official documents which formally direct the Australian Electoral Commissioner to hold an election – were issued within the appropriate time frame and can be found here.
The claim is made in a video posted on a Facebook page for a group which asserts its purpose is to “educate and empower” people.
“This national referendum is a fraud because the governor-general did not issue the writs for the House of Representatives which includes Anthony Albanese. He is your illegitimate PM,” the narrator states (video mark 3min 39sec).
The claim is patently false and is easily debunked with some simple online searches.
The most pertinent is the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website – which lists the writs which were required for every state and territory for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 46th Parliament was dissolved on April 11, 2022, ahead of the federal election.
The timetable for the election is dictated by the Australian Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act.
Section 32 of the constitution and sections 152, 154 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act state writs for elections must be issued within 10 days of parliament being dissolved. They were issued on the same day, April 11.
Following the issuing of the writs, the AEC must ensure the electoral rolls are closed at 8pm, seven days later. This happened on April 18.
Sections 156 and 175 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act dictate candidate nominations should close not less than 10 days or more than 27 days after the date of writ. Nominations closed at midday on April 21 – 10 days after the writs.
Sections 152 and 154 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act state separate writs must be completed for the six states and two territories and signed by the Governor of a State, the Governor-General or the Speaker.
Sections 157 and 158 of the act then require the date of polling to be a Saturday, not less than 23 days nor more than 31 days from the date of nominations closing.
The election was held on May 21, 2022, 30 days after the close of nominations.
Under Section 159, the return of the writs should occur not more than 100 days after issue. All writs had been returned by June 24, well within the time limit.
In other social media videos, the same author appears to suggest the writs are invalid as the governor-general did not issue them. However, David Hurley’s signature is clearly visible on the documents.
The author also references several other claims previously tackled by AAP FactCheck, including the existence of a “corporate constitution” (video mark 6 mins) and the voice being part of a United Nations’ plot (7 mins).
The Verdict
The claim the voice referendum is a fraud because no writ was issued for the House of Representatives before the 2022 federal election is false.
All writs for the election were issued as specified and within the appropriate time frame. They can be publicly viewed on the Australian Electoral Commission’s website.
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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