The Nationals have been accused of playing dirty tricks at country NSW voting polls with party members allegedly distributing pamphlets and signs disguised as Electoral Commission material.
As three by-elections are held across NSW on Saturday, the Nationals have been accused of trying to deceive voters in Cootamundra, where the party is locked in a tough fight to retain the seat from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers.
The seats of Cootamundra, Murray and Blacktown are all being contested following the resignations of Nationals MPs Katrina Hodgkinson and Adrian Piccoli and former Labor leader John Robertson.
While Labor is expected to easily retain the western Sydney electorate of Blacktown, with the Liberals having not fielded a candidate, the Nationals are fighting to hold onto their two country seats from the Shooters.
Both Labor and the Shooters have accused the Nationals of handing out Electoral Commission themed material urging voters to "just vote once" to stem preferences flowing to their opposition.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"It has been very difficult to distinguish between those posters and official Electoral Commission posters, which is misleading," Shooters' Cootamundra candidate Matthew Stadtmiller said in a video uploaded to Twitter.
Nationals volunteers and staff were also accused of handing out a letter co-signed by former prime minister John Howard while wearing fluorescent orange vests similar to those worn by Electoral Commission staff.
The letter, that urged people to reconsider voting for the Nationals, had not been registered to be handed out at polling booths according to Labor.
The NSW Electoral Commission confirmed two people had been found to be handing out unregistered material in Cootamundra.
"Upon being advised by the Polling Place Manager that this material was unregistered, these individuals indicated that they would cease handing it out," a commission spokesman said in a statement.
The commission said the matter would now be subject to a compliance review.
Labor general secretary Kaila Murnain told AAP the "dirty tricks" were a sign the Nationals were desperate to retain the seats of Cootamundra and Murray.
Mr Barilaro said while he was aware a Nationals supporter had been found with one of the letters, he stated they had not been distributing them.
"We believe that there has been nothing improper done, often people make these claims," Mr Barilaro told AAP.
"We've run a decent campaign, we're a professional outfit, we expect all our volunteers to do the right thing and if anyone has done anything improper that's something that will be looked at.
"I'm confident everything we've done is right."
