Labor sent Liberal Party-branded mail-outs to voters encouraging them to stop the Greens from capturing the seat of Richmond.
The Liberal Party made the contentious decision to direct Liberal voters to allocate their preferences to the Greens above Labor.
This means a higher proportion of Liberal votes will flow to the Greens when preferences are distributed,likely giving the minor party a better chance of winning the Labor-held electorate.
![Liberal Party candidate for Richmond Lucas Moon hands out how-to- vote cards at an early voting centre.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/06893963fa99b3dd71d46cf939a5bc2ea4790a17)
Liberal Party candidate for Richmond Lucas Moon hands out how-to- vote cards at an early voting centre.Scott McNaughton
Some voters in the inner-city seat,which takes in suburbs like Clifton Hill and Fitzroy,this week received pamphlets that use the same font,colours and logo as the Liberal Party.
“IMPORTANT INFORMATION For Liberal Voters,” reads one of the mail-outs sent toThe Age by a voter in the seat.
“A vote for Matthew Guy will flow through to the Greens … To stop the Greens,you need to PUT LABOR FIRST.”
The document includes a tear-out of an online story inThe Age by journalist Bianca Hall,who’s covering the seat of Richmond,about Liberal candidate Lucas Moon’s how-to-vote cards,which initially had Labor above the Greens before they were switched.
Unlike some other election fact sheets used by parties to capture the attention of their opponents’ supporters,the Richmond pamphlet is clearly marked – in a small font size,as is standard – as being authorised by Labor’s headquarters.
The Coalition and Greens have been accused of tricky election tactics during the campaign,including involvement in deceptive how-to-vote cards and allegedly removing Labor signage.
Labor has been contacted for comment.