The Home Affairs Minister of South Africa, Aaron Motsoaledi, has announced his intention to introduce the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill which includes the possible introduction of electronic voting to the National Assembly

According to Motsoaledi’s statement, if the proposed laws are passed, South Africans on the international segment of the voters’ roll who are eligible to cast their votes at embassies or consulates will not be required to submit an additional notice to a chief electoral officer of their intention to vote abroad.

“Most of the amendments proposed by this bill relate to normal operations related to elections. For this reason, the financial implications thereof have already been taken into account,” Motsoaledi said.

The proposed amendments are contained in the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, which Motsoaledi intends to introduce to Parliament. The most notable changes are outlined in more detail below: 

• Paperless – The bill will discontinue the requirement to submit paper documents by political parties in order to facilitate seamless and electronic submission of documents relating to candidates;
• Electronic voting – The proposed amendments will allow the electoral commission to prescribe a method of voting other than the current paper ballot method, such as electronic voting;
• Voters roll – The bill will allow a different voting procedure for voters whose names appear on the certified voters’ roll on voting day but without an address recorded on the voters’ roll;
• Applications – The bill will regulate the application procedure for the registration of parties intending to contest municipal elections at district and metropolitan level;
• Clarification – The bill aims to clarify the dates that the Electoral Code of Conduct is operative and binding on contestants in municipal elections.

Independent Voting Still On The Table for South Africa

The Government of South Africa will also have to address a June Constitutional Court judgment which found that the country’s Electoral Act is unconstitutional as it does not provide for adult citizens to be elected to the National and Provincial Legislatures as independent candidates.

The Electoral Act 73 of 1998 currently only allows political parties to contest in the country’s national and provincial elections.