The election was conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), an independent body answerable to parliament.

[2][3] The Daniel Andrews-led Labor government was returned to power after one term in opposition by winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly at the 2014 state election.

The Labor party was decisively re-elected at the 2018 state election with a 5.3% two-party preferred swing, winning 55 seats in the Assembly.

Family First Victoria, unrelated to the party of the same name that contested the 2022 South Australian state election, announced it would withdraw its registration on 12 August.

[49] Andrews committed to amending the state's constitution to protect public ownership of the revived SEC if re-elected, to make it harder, although not impossible, for it to be privatised again in the future.

[57][58] On 16 November, Australian Values Party leader Heston Russell leaked a video to the Herald Sun of him to talking to Glenn Druery about a potential preference deal, declaring that the AVP felt the co-ordination of the group voting ticket system used by Druery was immoral and needed to be exposed.

[59] This led to calls for the abolition of the group voting ticket, which Matthew Guy has said he would support and asked Andrews to commit to scrapping it, regardless of the election result.

Andrews said he would wait until after the previously scheduled electoral reform review, due after the election, before making any changes.

[61] The investigation followed a leak of documents showing a proposed contract requiring a Liberal donor to pay a total of $125,000 to the chief of staff's private marketing firm, potentially in breach of the $4,210 limit on donations from individuals or organisations.

[62] In a statement outlining the referral, the Victorian electoral commissioner stressed that the VEC had not "received full co-operation from those connected to its investigation".

[64] On 19 November, the Liberal Party disendorsed Renee Heath, the first ranked candidate for the Liberal ticket in the Eastern Victoria Region of the upper house Victorian Legislative Council, from the party after her conservative religious views, including support for conversion therapy, were bought to light by a newspaper investigation.

[65][66] Also on 19 November, Angry Victorians candidate and state MP Catherine Cumming declared at an anti-lockdown rally that she wished for Daniel Andrews to be turned into a "red mist".

These comments were denounced by both Andrews and Matthew Guy, and led to the Victoria Police opening an investigation into Cumming for alleged promotion of violence.

[67][68] On 20 November, The Age reported that the Liberal candidate for Narre Warren North, Timothy Dragan, opposed all recognition of Aboriginal people, said that he would vote against any legislation aimed at tackling climate change, would support a total ban on abortion, and that he called Liberal MP Brad Battin, the member for Berwick, a "prick".

[69] Richmond Labor candidate Lauren O'Dwyer had some controversies relating to her Aboriginal heritage claim disputed by some.

[70] On 21 November, Daniel Andrews claimed that there were neo-Nazi candidates running in the election and being recommended preferences on how to vote cards by the Liberal Party.

[74][75] The campaign was notable for the level of 'nastiness', mainly fuelled by fringe right-wing parties and candidates opposed to COVID measures taken by the government.

[76] Prior to the election, several newspapers around the country published editorials endorsing the party they believed should win.

TPP votes are calculated based on the estimate provided by the ABC election computer overseen by Antony Green.

The Labor-held seats of Bass and Bayswater, which were made notionally Liberal following redistribution, were retained by their Labor incumbents.

[137][138] On 21 November, it was reported that the Nationals candidate for the district of Narracan, Shaun Gilchrist, died suddenly.

[1] The upper house election for that district (within the Eastern Victoria Region) was held as scheduled on 26 November.

After losing four out of five members via the group voting ticket system in the 2018 election, the Greens quadrupled their presence in the chamber.

Notable results included the defeat of Reason Party leader Fiona Patten in the Northern Metropolitan region, defeated by former Labor minister and Democratic Labour Party candidate Adem Somyurek for the last position in the region, as well as the election of two Legalise Cannabis MPs to the parliament for the first time in the state's history.