South Africa: Call for Comments on the Electoral Amendment Bill
On 6 December 2022, the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs published a call for comment on proposed amendments to the Electoral Amendment Bill from the National Council of Provinces.
The proposed amendments provide for the establishment of an Electoral Reform Consultation Panel to deliberate on broader electoral reform and requires supporter signatures for independent candidates and political parties to register for the elections to be equitable, amongst other changes. Because the proposed amendments are material, the Committee has re-advertised to ensure that interested parties may make comments on the new proposed changes. The amendments must also be referred to the National Assembly for approval.
Parliament also filed an urgent application on 6 December 2022 to the Constitutional Court in a bid to extend the deadline by which the Bill must be enacted. The new requested date of 28 February 2023 is intended to afford the public opportunity to comment on the various amendments. The Constitutional Court had initially granted Parliament 24 months to amend the Electoral Act of 1998 from the date when the Constitutional Court judgment was handed down on 11 June 2020, and this would be the second such extension granted.
- The call for comments can be accessed here.
- The Bill can be accessed here.
- The proposed amendments can be accessed here.
Comments should be emailed to Mr Eddy Mathonsi at [email protected] by 16h00 on 27 January 2023.
Please note: The information contained in this note is for general guidance on matters of interest and does not constitute legal advice. For any enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].