Muslim Votes Matter says anonymous bid to create political party under same name an attempt to ‘mislead’ voters

Muslim Votes Matter (MVM) has complained to the Victorian Electoral Commission over an anonymous bid to register a political party under the same name ahead of the state election, accusing it of deliberately misleading voters. MVM was established before the 2025 federal election as a grassroots advocacy and lobbying movement, responding to concerns about the lack of political representation for Muslim and minority groups in Australia. While MVM is not itself a registered political party, it endorsed candidates and distributed how-to-vote cards at the federal election and intends to do the same at Victoria’s November poll. But last week, rightwing provocateur Avi Yemini posted a YouTube video claiming an unnamed associate had planned to register a political party using the name Muslim Votes Matter. It follows Yemini’s plan to register a “Free Palestine party” and use it to funnel votes to conservative parties, which was inspired by anti-lockdown activist Monica Smit’s announcement in February that she would seek to register a “Save the Environment party” to attempt to influence the state election result. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Yemini and Smit’s plans rely on Victoria’s upper house remaining the only house of parliament in Australia still using the group voting ticket system (GVTs) , in which voters are only able to choose one party above the line on the ballot paper. …