We're now in the official part of the election campaign. Our election feature is designed to give all the candidates the opportunity to speak directly to you, the voters.

Two of the candidates are not included, as they were impossible to contact, or did not respond in time to our offer to be included.

The election date on Saturday, May 3, is the final date you can vote, with pre-polls (or early voting) opening from April 22. The Cowes pre-polling station will be at the Phillip Island Masonic Lodge, 92 Church Street, from April 22 through until May 2.

Now that the election has officially been called, the amount of political advertising has increased. That includes in this newspaper and others, on social media, as well as billboards, signage and direct mail outs.

Unfortunately, Australia does not have a "truth in political advertising" rule, so it pays to be a little sceptical about some of the tactics and advertising in the lead up to an election.

In a recent interview with SBS, Director of the Australia Institute's Democracy and Accountability Program Bill Browne said it was up to the individual to assess what is misleading when it comes to political advertisements.

"A healthy amount of scepticism is always a good idea when assessing advertising, and that probably goes double for political advertising."

In a previous edition, we mentioned political parties sending out postal vote applications. The AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) has warned voters about this saying there was the potential to mislead voters, who think they are filling out official applications, when instead they are providing their data to political parties.

The practice is not illegal but is the number one complaint raised by voters with the AEC. If you need a postal vote, apply direct at aec.gov.au, before 6pm on April 30.

Then there's the issue of truth in political advertising.

Unfortunately, in most of Australia it is legal to lie in political advertising. Unlike commercial advertising laws, Australia's political advertising laws do not prohibit misleading or deceptive claims.

For example, a flyer currently being delivered to local households states: "Teal Independents vote with The Greens".

The pamphlet refers to a local candidate being "backed by the same Teal group" that has voted most with the Greens. The reality is, there is no Teal group (or party). Teal is just a useful term used by the media to describe a group of independents currently sitting in parliament.

There is also no evidence that the independents running in Monash, if elected, will mirror the voting record of the current sitting independents from other electorates. But if you are interested in MPs voting records, you can see exactly how any member of parliament voted by visiting the theyvoteforyou.org.au/ website.