During the 2022 Victorian state election, multiple voting centres ran out of ballot papers on election day and at least one voting centre closed early. This report details the outcomes of an inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 Victorian state election regarding ballot paper shortages.  

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) publicly stated that no voters missed out on voting or no voters were turned away as a result. However, it was subsequently found that at least 166 people missed out on voting because of ballot paper shortages. 

The Committee considered these events represented serious errors by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) in relation to running the election, communicating to the public and being transparent with the Parliament. Following its investigation into these matters the Committee recommended that a supplementary report be produced by the VEC.

This report includes a copy of the VEC’s supplementary report in full, detailing what occurred and how the VEC intends to respond, and the Committee's assessment of it.

Overall, the Committee is satisfied that the supplementary report addresses the Committee’s recommendation and provides an adequate level of transparency. However, it highlights two issues requiring further comment:

• continuing areas of uncertainty about the ballot paper shortages at the 2022 election
• the VEC’s plans for electronic roll mark-off at future elections.