Victoria State Election, 26 November 2022

Floods, October–November 2022 

In October 2022, torrential rain caused flooding in parts of Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and Tasmania, leading to residents in these states being placed under evacuation orders on 14 October (Reuters 2022; ABC News 2022a). Several rivers in Victoria reached major flood levels, with some towns experiencing the highest river peaks in decades (McGuirk 2022). Flash floods continued in November, with intense rainfall and thunderstorms drenching the many already overflowing rivers and flooded communities in NSW and Victoria. Strong winds also left thousands without power (Davies 2022). Around 100-150mm of rain fell over a period of 24–36 hours, with disruption to major roads into the affected states (ABC News 2022b).). 

In September 2022, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology declared that a La Niña event was underway, where the typical east-to-west equatorial winds strengthens in the Pacific, increasing the likelihood of above-average rainfall in the spring and summer (Hannam 2022). In addition to La Niña, the negative Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) is believed to be the main climate driver behind the torrential rain and subsequent floods (Lu 2022).  

Impact on the electoral process 

Early voting for the Victoria State Election opened on 13 November 2022 (VEC 2023). A combination of printing issues and wet weather resulted in several early voting centres opening three hours later than planned (VEC 2022a). 

On 1 November 2022, the Victoria Election Commission (VEC) had decided on a temporary facility for voters severely affected by flooding to make use of VEC’s telephone voting service in the final week of voting (VEC 2022b). The VEC worked with Emergency Management Victoria to identify affected areas and the facility was removed on 1 May 2023.  

For voters impacted by the floods, the VEC encouraged to voters to plan and vote early. Displaced and relocated flood victims could vote at any early voting centre or election day voting centre in Victoria, visit Victoria’s mobile voting team at the Centre for National Resilience on 17 November, or vote on election day at the Elmore Athenaeum Hall (the closest voting centre to the Rochester Temporary Village in Elmore) (VEC 2022b). 

Guided by its Geospatial Strategy 2021–2024, the VEC provided real-time data through mapping tools, including flood zones and road closures, to support various teams delivering targeted electoral services. 

The turnout was between 87 and 88 per cent, compared to approximately 90 percent in Victoria’s 2018 state election (VEC n.d.; VEC 2022c). Voting is compulsory in Australia.