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10 - 16 September 2013
Issue 531
41770
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RIGHT TO VOTE ABROAD SET TO BECOME LAW
| Proposed amendments to Electoral Act will see Constitutional finding from 2009 applied in full, allowing South Africans to vote wherever they are on Election Day by STAFF REPORTER
WITH South Africa’s next national election coming up in 2014, the right of citizens to vote abroad looks set to be written into law. The Electoral Act of 1998 currently only allows government officials, travelling sporting teams and people on business trips or holidays abroad to cast special votes – if they notify the IEC within 15 days of the proclamation of the election date. However, in 2009 this stipulation was successfully challenged in court by the Freedom Front Plus, AfriForum and others. The Constitutional Court found in Richter v Minister of Home Affairs and Others that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional and invalid as it prevented South Africans living overseas from voting. This meant that South Africans in the UK and elsewhere were allowed to vote in the 2009 national election. Now the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has taken this a step further and proposed amendments to the Electoral Act that would make allow people to vote no matter where they are on election day. Chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya said at the weekend that the commission hoped the Electoral Amendment Bill, currently before the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, would pass through Parliament and be signed into law by the president soon. Terry Tselane, deputy chairman of the IEC, said the law would only provide for national votes and that
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voters would still need to make their mark in their registered provinces for provincial representatives. “It will be a logistical nightmare for the IEC if people were allowed to vote for provinces anywhere...[it could] compromise the integrity of the electoral process,” he said. However, the Democratic Alliance (DA) believes the Electoral Amendment Bill is still unconstitutional in that it denies overseas citizens the provincial vote. Last week the DA and nine other applicants filed papers in the Western Cape High Court to allow South Africans living abroad to register abroad and vote on the national and provincial ballot. “The Constitution provides for both a regional and a national list. All South Africans have the right to vote for both lists and this contributes to the make up of the National Assembly. The regional list populates the National Assembly first and then this is topped up by the national list. As it stands, the IEC’s Bill would effectively rule out a constituency-based system. It will also not provide for overseas voters to vote for the provincial legislature. The Act already allows certain categories of South Africans living abroad or outside their province, namely public servants, to register as voters and to vote in provincial elections. This right should be extended to all South Africans otherwise it effectively creates a situation of some being more equal than others,” said DA Federal
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ONE EXPAT, ONE VOTE: The DA is fighting for the rights of global South Africans, such as those living in UK, to not only vote where they reside but to register abroad as well
Executive Chairperson, James Selfe. Selfe argued that logistically, this was quite easy and did not see administrative problems in allowing citizens abroad to vote on both ballots. He said the IEC would simply need to provide overseas voters with two ballot papers instead of one. In terms of counting those votes towards the provincial list, they can follow the exact same procedure as is already done for government officials abroad. “Although we agree that the integrity of the voters’ roll is fundamental to credible elections, so is providing every citizen with the full right to vote,” Selfe added. AfriForum welcomed the amendments to the Electoral Act as South Africans living abroad are ‘a valuable asset’. “Some South Africans residing overseas have interests here, including family, friends, property and
investments. They act as nonofficial ambassadors and influence the opinion of foreigners. Some play a significant role in the local economy by investing skills and knowledge, exporting products and supporting friends, family and businesses financially,” said Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO of AfriForum responsible for international liaison. The court application also requests that voting stations be made available where there are no embassies or consulates, but where substantial numbers of South Africans reside. Bailey said her organisation understood that such voting stations imply a financial burden, but that “no price tag can be put on [expatriate South Africans’] constitutional rights.” She appealed to the IEC to investigate options for electronic participation in future in order to afford all South Africans the opportunity to vote.
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