Candidate's Vic poll bid "misconceived"

A failed candidate's bid to void the Victorian election is misconceived, with no evidence that a record number of early voters distorted the outcome, a court has heard.

Voters rejected Palmer United Party candidate Maria Rigoni but she believes she was unfairly denied the right to influence their decision by the flood of pre-poll votes.

Ms Rigoni's barrister, Anton Trichardt, argues that almost 900,000 votes cast at early voting centres breached the electoral act.

He told the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday the act stipulated that early voters must make a declaration that they are unable to vote at a polling both on election day, and that these voters failed to do so.

But Kylie Evans, for the Victorian Electoral Commission, said the 20 specific occasions on which Ms Rigoni claims VEC staff failed to take early voting declarations would amount to the "exception not the rule".

It was a "big step" to leap from 20 potentially affected votes to almost 900,000.

"Up to 900,000?" Ms Evans asked.

"There may have only been 21, we just don't know.

"It is a serious matter to void the election, and the court ought to have evidence that particular votes were invalid."

She said Ms Rigoni had failed to provide evidence suggesting a single Victorian would have voted differently had they voted at another time.

Dr Trichardt described Ms Rigoni as a public interest campaigner.

"It is not a petition by a disgruntled candidate disputing a vote count, who claims she should've been elected," he said.

But Ms Evans said her argument was entirely "misconceived", and fails to state any facts that could void the election.

Some 898,552 Victorians cast their vote in person at 100-odd early voting centres in the two weeks before last year's November 29 election.

That amounted to 23.6 per cent of the total vote, the bulk of which went to the two major parties, according to Dr Trichardt.

Ms Rigoni told the court last month this early voting distorts every candidate's right to influence the decision-making process of voters within the election time-frame.

Ms Rigoni stood as the PUP candidate in Victoria's Northern Metropolitan Region and won 1.18 per cent of first preference votes.

The trial continues on Thursday.