WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The federal election is fraudulent because writs have been incorrectly issued.
OUR VERDICT
False. The writs have been issued correctly and in line with the Australian Constitution.
AAP FACTCHECK - Voting in the upcoming federal election is not "fraud" and the election is not "fake", despite claims on social media.
Experts say voting in the May 3 election is valid because the writs have been issued as specified in the Australian Constitution and in line with previous elections.
The claim has appeared in several Facebook videos from the same user, who is urging followers not to vote and says "if you vote in this election it's a fraud against every other Australian and their families".
"The 2025 federal election is going to be the most fraudulent, fakest election in our history. Why? I've just seen the writs," he says in another video (timestamp 23 minutes 25 seconds).
Under Section 32 of the constitution, the writs for the House of Representatives must be issued by the governor-general, and under Section 12 writs for the election of senators are issued by state governors.
The man in the video incorrectly claims Special Minister of State Don Farrell has issued the lower house writs, and that Governor-General Sam Mostyn signed as a witness.
Dan Meagher, a constitutional law expert at Deakin University, says the claim is nonsense and the writs for the House of Representatives and the Senate were issued correctly.
He says Ms Mostyn issued the lower house writs, and Mr Farrell witnessed them.
"Don Farrell signs off on these documents as special minister of state," Professor Meagher told AAP FactCheck.
"One of the responsibilities of that Ministerial role is the administration of electoral matters, most relevantly those regarding the Australian Electoral Commission."
The writs published by the Australian Electoral Commission website show this to be the case.
Graeme Orr, an electoral law expert at the University of Queensland, said the election process was valid.
"The 'writ' that officially starts the election must be signed by the relevant Governor, representing the Crown or King as head of state," Professor Orr told AAP FactCheck.
He said a regular election was not 'called' by the head of state, but by the government of the day, who advised them.
"Don Farrell, as the relevant minister, counter-signs for a very good reason," Prof Orr said.
He said this was established practice, and it also occurred in the 2022 election.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked similar claims about election writs.
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