Government Gazette

Vol. 407, No. 20109, 20 May 1999

Regulation Gazette, No. 6540

No. R. 654

GOVERNMENT NOTICE

ELECTORAL COMMISSION

AMENDMENT OF THE ELECTION REGULATIONS

The Electoral Commission has in terms of section 100 of the Electoral Act, 1998 (Act No. 73 of 1998), made the regulations set out in the Schedule.

SCHEDULE

Definitions

  1. In these regulations "the Regulations" means the regulations published in Government Notice No. R. 478 of 14 April 1999.

Amendment of regulation 15 of the Regulations

  1. Regulation l S of the Regulations is hereby substituted by the following regulation:

"15. (1) A person who finds that he or she will, as a result of employment, business or study commitments or a close family or personal trauma, be unavoidably and unforeseeably absent from the voting district in which he or she is registered as a voter, may apply to vote elsewhere by submitting an application in a form substantially similar to Appendix 4 to any local electoral officer at his or her office or any presiding officer at the office of that officer, which must be at or as near as possible to the voting station for that voting district, during the hours on the date or dates stated in the election timetable.

(2) In the case of a unit of the South African National Defence Force deployed on special duty in a remote area, and identified specifically by the Commission for this purpose, the application for a declaration vote by a member of a unit so deployed, may be submitted to any local electoral officer or presiding officer, by an officer of the unit recognised for this purpose by the chief electoral officer and in such a case that of ricer represents the applicant for the purposes of regulation 16.

(3) The local electoral officer or the presiding officer must keep a record of such applications in a form substantially similar to Appendix 5.".

Amendment of regulation 16 of the Regulations

  1. Regulation 16 of the Regulations is hereby substituted by the following regulation:

"16. (l) The local electoral officer, the presiding officer or a voting officer must in the presence of the applicant consider the application and if he or she finds that -

  1. the applicant is registered as a voter; and
  2. the applicant will be unavoidably and unforeseeable absent from the voting district in which he or she is registered, due to circumstances mentioned in regulation 15,

approve the application and if not, reject the application.

(2) If the application is rejected the applicant must be handed a notification of rejection in writing in a form substantially similar to Appendix 6.

(3) If the application is approved and -

  1. the applicant produces an identity document; and
  2. the local electoral officer, presiding officer or voting officer is satisfied that the applicant is the person described in that identity document,

the applicant must be handed a certificate on a form substantially similar to Appendix 7, and if the application was submitted and considered by the presiding officer of the voting district where the applicant's name appears on the voters' roll, the name of the applicant on the voters' roll must be marked with the letters DV.

(4) If an application was approved by a local electoral officer or, a presiding officer other than the presiding officer referred to in subregulation (3), that officer must immediately inform the presiding officer of the voting station where the applicant is registered on the voters' roll of this fact, either directly or via the local electoral of ricer of that area, and that presiding officer so informed must without delay mark the applicant's name on the voters' roll with the letters DV.

(5) No further certificate, or copy of a certificate or substitute for a certificate must be issued to the same person.

Short title

  1. These regulations are called the First Amendment to the Election Regulations, 1999.