The Coalition has spread claims including that a 'vote for an independent will help re-elect Dan Andrews.'
When you look at the 23 registered parties running in the Victorian election, you can see one thing many have in common: they don't like Daniel Andrews.
Many are running in the upper house where group voting tickets come into play - making it easier for them to win seats - but the lower house is where governments are formed.
Daniel Andrews himself isn't on the ballot papers in 87 out of the 88 seats, but can be - if voters want it - voted out in his own electorate of Mulgrave, where the main challenger seems to be independent Ian Cook.
To get rid of him as premier, of course, Labor needs to actually lose government. In the event of a Labor minority government, Andrews would still likely be premier if he retains his own seat.
One sign for Brighton MP James Newbury seen on a truck claims the following:
"The ONLY way to get rid of Daniel Andrews is to Vote 1 Liberal"
That's false.
The reality is, there are plenty of independents & minor parties - like Family First, running in all 88 seats, and the Freedom Party - that would be unlikely to do a deal with Andrews.
As mentioned before, an independent could get rid of Andrews directly. And there's several other Labor-held seats that could be lost to non-Coalition candidates.
All would contribute to or directly get rid of Andrews. To claim the "only way" to do so is to vote Liberal is false.
A similar claim from the Coalition is that a vote for a "Teal Party" candidate - meaning teal independents - will help re-elect Andrews.
When questioned about it, Liberal candidate & former MP John Pesutto (who is competing with teal independent Melissa Lowe to unseat Labor MP John Kennedy in Hawthorn) told 6 News that he thinks that 'teals' would be more likely to work with Labor in the event of a minority government.
But in areas where there's no teal independent - like Mildura - 6 News has seen election material claiming that a vote for a independent will help re-elect Andrews.
That blanket statement is false, especially when you look at the reality of the large number of conservative & strongly anti-Andrews independent candidates.
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