Anti-vaxxers and the freedom movement are trying to teach their followers how to vote

Online anti-vaccine, conspiracy figures and groups are trying to organise and teach their followers to use the Australian electoral system to elect fringe and extreme minor parties in the 2022 election. 

There are a large number of conspiracy-peddling candidates running in the 2022 federal election. Despite being distrustful of government, many who took part in the so-called “freedom” movement have been eyeing off a tilt at Parliament as a way of overturning laws and decisions — including the approval of the COVID-19 vaccines and emergency pandemic powers — and pursuing recriminations against politicians. 

Squeezing the most out of the dwindling number of people who are still paying attention to the movement is crucial to the prospects of any of these candidates. That’s why many of the biggest names in these fringe groups have taken a break from promoting claims of “electoral fraud” to run campaigns or promote content they hope will give them the best chance of getting up.

After the Senate voting reforms of 2016 were passed, minor parties’ chances of success relies even more heavily on ensuring that voters preference as much as possible. Typically, people who vote for small parties are more likely to have their ballots exhaust before electing a candidate, according to the ABC’s election analyst Antony Green: “The general observation is, the lower a party’s vote, the more likely that voters would stop preferencing before reaching one of the major parties,” he wrote.

One strategy being pursued is creating custom how-to-vote cards that promote similar minor parties. “Put The Majors Last” is one such campaign being heavily promoted by anti-vaccine and conspiracy groups. A website for the campaign allows individuals to create custom how-to-vote cards preferencing minor parties, always suggesting first right-wing populist parties Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party. 

Majors Last’s website has been shared hundreds of times across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram by known anti-vaccine campaigners and anti-vaccine party candidates. It was even promoted by Rowan Dean on Sky News’ Outsiders program. 

The campaign doesn’t list a person authorising the campaign, instead just saying “authorised by Majors Last”. An ASIC search reveals the organisation is registered to an address belonging to Atlas Chartered Accountants, a libertarian business that has come under fire for offensive social media posts before. One of the organisation’s officeholder is Jeffrey Grimshaw, who ran for the now-defunct, Cory Bernardi-led Australian Conservatives party in the 2019 election. 

An even more targeted freedom movement electoral campaign launched this week, “Stand Up And Vote”, is polling candidates to find out their position on topics like vaccine passports, the Digital Identity Bill and other conspiracy topics to publish to voters. 

Members of the freedom movement are also trying to teach members the intricacies of Australia’s voting system. An 18-minute video using marbles by Topher Field, creator of the anti-Dan Andrews documentary Battleground Melbourne who also organised anti-lockdown protests, has been widely shared in conspiracy Telegram groups. An initial version of the video was taken down after Field was contacted by the Australian Electoral Commission for failing to put an authorisation on election content. A similar video was made by Pauline Hanson as well.

Another part of their electoral strategy has been to organise volunteers to hand out flyers and to scrutineer on election day. Reignite Democracy Australia, Australia’s most active anti-vaccine group, published a “polling booth strategy” which includes details on how to distribute custom how-to-vote flyers. The group, which has previously promoted false claims of voter fraud, is also seeking to organise people to watch the vote-counting process on election night. 

“We are compiling all the information so that you will know exactly how to sign up as a scrutineer and how to perform this IMPORTANT task,” they wrote.