Ahead of its upcoming polls, the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission on Electoral Reform in South Africa has proposed a new electoral system, as the Constitutional Court found loopholes in the current electoral process.

According to a report by City Press, which referenced a report compiled by the commission that recommended major changes to the election of members of the National Assembly, 300 out of the 400 members of the National Assembly will be elected based on constituencies, with only 100 according to the current system of party representation.

In June 2020, the current electoral system was found to be unconstitutional and Parliament was ordered to amend the law relating to the election of ministers by July 2022. The changes proposed by the commission would provide far more voter representation and reduce the sway political parties have over the composition of the National Assembly. This could also create room for more independent candidates to be elected from their various constituencies.

These proposed changes follow a draft bill tabled earlier this month by the Congress of the People (Cope) that aims to deal with the same problem. This bill also recommended the inclusion of independent candidates in elections.

Other changes proposed for improving the efficiency of elections in South Africa has been the procurement of new voting machines as well as electronic voting booths. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) recently confirmed it was procuring new voter ID scanning devices for use during registration and voting, as well as electronic voting booths. The IEC had also in 2019 said it would soon be issuing a tender to procure 60,000 portable devices to replace the ageing existing registration devices.

The IEC in South Africa wanted new devices that offered two major benefits – ensuring voters are registered at the correct stations and preventing double voting.

Similarly, the IEC is testing an electronic voting machine that will print a receipt reflecting the voter’s choices. This would provide a voter-verifiable audit trail system, as once the voter has double-checked that the information is correct, the receipt will be validated with a unique stamp before being placed in a ballot box.

The counting of these receipts in South Africa, and votes in general, is set to remain a manual process, the IEC has stated.