A poster referencing the Gigachad meme is among several fake election signs spotted across Tasmania as the state prepares to go to the polls on March 23.
The joke sign says “Vote 1 Gigachad this election” and “look like a gigachad, free mewing lessons if I get in” and was seen on a rural road.
Other parody signs reference Darth Vader (Vote 1 for Galactic Senat), a tradesman character in hi-vis named “Mike Nolan”, and another for “Sassy the Sasquatch” bears the slogan “Whadiyatalkinabeet” and says “Vote 1 for Brown Town”.
A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Electoral Commission told Pulse Tasmania the signs were non-offensive but not “official election material”.
The TEC urged anyone who sees parody signs or graffitied real signs to report them.
In last year’s failed Voice to Parliament referendum the Yes23 campaign were warned by the Australian Electoral Commission that some of its signs were potentially misleading.
The “Vote Yes” signs used the same colour purple as the AEC’s official signage saying “voting centre”.
The commission said at the time: “The signs were erected by the Yes23 campaign, not the AEC.
“When we were alerted to this signage, the AEC requested the Yes23 campaign to rectify the situation by ensuring their signs are not placed in the proximity of AEC voting centre signs.”
The similar colour scheme was used throughout the campaign, which was backed by the Albanese Labor government.
More than 60% of Australians voted against altering the Australian constitution to prescribe an Indigenous “voice”.
