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Electoral
Laws Amendment Bill (Amended), 2007 (H.B. 13A, 2007)
December 19,
2007
As passed by Parliament
[passed by House of Assembly with amendments to clause 29 and by
the Senate without further amendment]. The amendments have been
incorporated in this document, with the words thereby deleted and
substituted in the new section 38(3)(a) and (b) of the principal
Act clearly indicated.
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Electoral
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Electoral
Laws Amendment Bill, 2007
MEMORANDUM
The purpose
of this Bill is to amend the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission Act [Chapter 2:12]and the Electoral
Act [Chapter 2:13], so as to make provision for various matters
arising from the Constitution
of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 17) Act and the Constitution
of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 18) Act.
The individual
clauses of the Bill are explained below:
Clause 1
This clause sets out the Bill’s short title.
PART
II
AMENDMENT OF
ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT [CHAPTER 2:12] (NO.22 OF 2004)
Clause 2
This clause will
amend section 2 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act [Chapter
2:12] (No. 22 of 2004) (hereafter in this Part referred to as the
“Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act”), which contains
definitions of terms used in the Act. Of note is the substitution
of the definition of “Commission” to take account of
the fact that the Commission is no longer constituted in terms of
the Act, but under the Constitution. Also noteworthy is the repeal
of the definition of “election period”, which term is
used nowhere in the Act.
Clause 3
This clause will repeal sections 3 and 4 of the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Act (which have become largely redundant by reason of
the inclusion of the establishment and functions of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission in section 61 of the Constitution) and substitute
a new sections dealing solely with the additional functions and
powers of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and matters of its procedure
not dealt with in section 61 of the Constitution.
Clause 4
This clause will amend section 8 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Act by deleting a reference to “monitors”, which term
will be rendered superfluous by the deletion of all references to
monitors in the Electoral Act. It also imposes additional obligations
on Commissioners and Commission employees not to divulge confidential
information gained through being a Commissioner or an employee of
the Commission.
Clause 5
This clause will amend section 9 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Act by excluding from the list of sources of funds of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission Parliamentary appropriations, which source
is already mentioned in section 61(6) of the Constitution. It also
permits the Commission to receive donations or grants from any local
or foreign source whatsoever, as long as these receive the approval
of the Minister.
Clause 6
This clause will insert a new section in the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Act empowering the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to invest
its surplus moneys in such manner as it may deem fit, after consultation
with the Minister.
Clause 7
This clause will amend section 11 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Act in order to make clear that the Chief Elections Officer is the
chief executive of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Clause 8
This clause will amend section 12 of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Act by substituting references to “Speaker of Parliament”
with references to the “Speaker of the House of Assembly”.
Another amendment requires the Commission, as soon as possible after
the result of any election or referendum has been announced, and
in any event no later than six months thereafter, to submit a report
on the conduct thereof to President, the Speaker of the House of
Assembly, the Minister and every political party that contested
the election or referendum.
Clauses 9,
10 and 11
These clauses amend the provisions 0f the principal Act concerned
with voter education. Clause 9 introduces a definition of “programme
of voter education”. Clause 10 will amend section 15 of the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act to provide that persons who are
convicted for not conducting voter education in the prescribed manner,
may not be allowed to conduct voter education for a period of five
years. It also substitutes a reference to the Non-Governmental Organisations
Act, which was not assented to. Clause 11 imposes certain obligations
on the Commission with respect to the provision by it and other
persons of programmes of voter education. The Commission must begin
its own programme of voter education no later than 90 days before
an election. The new section 15B inserted by clause 11 provides
the grounds on which the Commission may intervene to ensure that
programmes of voter education offered by other persons are accurate,
fair and impartial.
Clause 12
This clause will insert a new Part IVA into the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Act to empower the Commission to regulate the conduct
of news media in relation to elections. Part IVA will prevail over
any contrary provisions contained in other media laws (see new section
16B). Public broadcasters will have to afford parties and candidates
contesting an election free access to their services in accordance
with regulations made by the Commission (see new section 16C). The
media will have to be impartial when accepting or refusing to accept
electoral advertisements (see new section 16D) and will have to
publish public statements by the Commission in regard to elections
(see new section 16E). Generally, the media will have to be reasonably
fair, impartial and restrained in their reporting of elections (see
new section 16F). In terms of the new section 16F, the Commission
is obligated to monitor the Zimbabwean news media during any election
period and report on the coverage of the election by the news media
in its post-election report.
Clause 13
This clause will repeal paragraph 11(3) of the First Schedule to
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act, which requires the Commission
to furnish the Minister with copies of the minutes of its meetings.
This provision is felt to compromise the independence of the Commission.
Clause 14
This clause will amend the Second Schedule to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Act, in order to dispense with the requirement for the
Commission to seek the approval of the Minister in certain matters.
In particular, the Commission will not require the approval of the
Minister to enter into arrangements connected with its functions
with the Government or any Zimbabwean local or other authority.
Also, it will not require the approval of the Minister before it
advances a loan to any of its employees, so long as the loan does
not exceed an amount of six months’ wages or salary of the
employee concerned.
Clause 15
This clause will make consequential amendments to the long title
of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act.
PART
III
AMENDMENT OF
THE ELECTORAL ACT [CHAPTER 2:13] (NO. 25 OF 2004)
Clause 16
This clause will amend section 4 of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]
(No. 25 of 2004) (hereafter in this Part referred to as the “Electoral
Act”), which contains definitions of terms used in the Act.
Noteworthy amendments are the following: the redefinition of “constituency”
to take into account senatorial as well as House of Assembly constituencies;
the amendment of the definition of “proof of residence”,
the inclusion of definitions for “election period”,
“local authority area”, “local government body”
and “ward”; and the repeal of the definition of “monitor”.
Clause 17
This clause repeals Part II (concerned with the procedure and conditions
of service of the Electoral Supervisory Commission) of the Electoral
Act and substitutes it with a new Part II. The existing Part II
has been made superfluous by the constitutional abolition of the
Electoral Supervisory Commission. In its place the new Part will
deal simply with the functions of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
in relation to observers. The new Part will broaden the category
of persons and organisations who may be accredited as observers
of elections.
Clause 18
This clause amends section 17 of the Electoral Act in two respects.
Firstly, it provides for the increase in the pool of people who
may be seconded as staff of the Commission during elections: in
addition to persons employed by the Public Service Commission, the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may call upon the Health Service Board
established in terms of the Health Service Act and the responsible
authorities of any statutory or local government body to make their
employees available for election service. However, employees of
the Police Force, Defence Forces or the Prison Service may no longer
be seconded as staff of the Commission except where their services
are required for the provision of security. The other amendment
to this section empowers the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to designate
any constituency elections officer as a “senatorial constituency
elections officer”, or to appoint as a “senatorial constituency
elections officer” any person seconded to it. These designations
or appointments are necessitated by the recent introduction of elections
for Senators.
Clause 19
This clause inserts a new section in the Electoral Act to the effect
that voter registration is an exercise that is conducted on a continuous
basis to ensure that the voters rolls are kept up-to-date.
Clause 20
This clause amends section 18 of the Electoral Act by deleting a
redundant reference to the Electoral Supervisory Commission. Also,
the Registrar-General of Voters must seek the leave of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (not the Minister, as at present) before delegating
any of his or her functions to another member of the Public Service.
Clause 21
This clause replaces sections 20 and 21 of the Electoral Act by
two new sections. The first new section will transfer to the Commission
the responsibility for keeping voters rolls, and will indicate what
particulars must be recorded in the rolls. The second new section
will make voters rolls more accessible to the public, and will require
the Commission to provide copies of the rolls to candidates and
political parties contesting elections.
Clause 22
The main effect of this clause is that persons who are aggrieved
at a refusal by a constituency registrar to transfer their names
to the voters roll of another constituency will be given a right
of appeal to a magistrate rather than to the Commission, as at present.
Clause 23
Presently, section 38(2)(c) of the Electoral Act requires that an
election proclamation should specify the date on which the voters
roll shall be closed for the purpose of accepting the registration
of new voters, which date may be a day on or after the day of the
publication of the election proclamation. This clause seeks to entrench
the rule that the voters’ roll must be closed on the day before
nomination day.
Clause 24
Section 27 of the Electoral Act provides that a constituency registrar
may object to the registration of any claimant or voter by sending
to the claimant or voter a written notice of objection to which
a form of notice of appeal is annexed. The proviso to subsection
(1) of that section stipulates that no objection may be taken “during
the period between the issue of a proclamation referred to in section
38 or publication of a notice referred to in section 39 and the
close of polling at the election to which such proclamation or notice
relates”. This clause replaces these words by stating that
no objection may be taken “during an election period”.
A definition of the phrase “election period” is to be
included in this Bill (see clause 14(d)). Notwithstanding the foregoing,
objections may be taken during the period of a by-election in respect
of the registration of any voter in any ward or constituency that
is not affected by the by-election.
Clause 25
Section 28 provides for objections by voters to the registration
of any person on the voters roll of the constituency to which the
objecting voter belongs. The amendment sought to this section will
make it clear that this section applies also to objections by voters
to the removal of their names from the voters roll at the instance
of a constituency registrar in terms of section 33.
Clause 26
Section 33 provides for the removal by the constituency registrar
of persons from the voters roll on the disqualification or death
of such persons or their absence from their constituencies for more
than 12 months or the redomiciliation of such persons in another
country. The amendment sought to this section will require the constituency
registrar to publish his or her intention to exercise his or her
powers under this section in a newspaper circulating in the area
of the voter’s last known address.
Clause 27
Section 35(c) of the Electoral Act empowers a constituency registrar
to strike out from the voters roll the name of any voter on proof
that he or she is registered or entitled to be registered on another
roll. This clause repeals that provision, which is considered to
give the constituency registrar an undesirable power to alter the
roll at his or her sole discretion.
Clause 28
This clause will insert a new Part in the Electoral Act that will
require the Commission, when delimiting wards and constituencies
in terms of the Constitution, to consult interested parties and
entertain representations from them “so far as is practicable
within the time available”.
Clause 29
This clause substitutes section 38 of the Electoral Act, which deals
with the matters that must be provided for in an election proclamation.
The principal effects of the substitution are as follows: (a) to
provide for the harmonisation of Presidential, Parliamentary and
local authority elections; (b) to omit references in the proclamation
to the last day for accepting the registration of voters who may
vote at the election (see clause 23 above); (c) to provide that
the fixing of the days for the poll and nomination in connection
with the Presidential and local authority elections must be dealt
with simultaneously in the same election proclamation as that which
fixes the days for the poll and nomination for the Parliamentary
election; (d) to provide that the day or days fixed for polling
will be deemed to be a public holiday or public holidays; (e) to
provide that the election of the Council of Chiefs and the president
and deputy president thereof must take place before the nomination
day for Parliamentary candidates; and (f) to provide that the electoral
colleges for electing Chiefs to the Senate must sit no later than
forty-eight hours after the close of the poll for the Presidential
election.
Clause 30
This clause will amend section 39 of the Electoral Act (which provides
for the notification of vacancies in Parliament to the President
and the Commission) in the following ways: (a) by substituting references
to the “Speaker” with references to the “President
of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Assembly”; (b)
by providing that the day or days fixed for polling at the by-election
will be deemed to be a public holiday or public holidays in the
constituency concerned; and (c) by providing that the date on which
a voters rolls is deemed to be closed to further registration will
be the date on which the vacancy in Parliament occurred.
Clauses 31,
32 and 33
These clauses will substitute section 40 and amend sections 43 and
44 of the Electoral Act in order to make provision for the election
to the Senate of two Chiefs representing each non-metropolitan province.
Clause 34
This clause will amend section 45 of the Electoral Act to make provision
for the notification in the Gazette by the President of the appointment
of persons as Senators.
Clause 35
This clause will amend section 46 of the Electoral Act in several
particulars, mostly minor, apart from the two mentioned below.
Firstly, the
law presently requires nominators of candidates to be registered
voters, but where a candidate lodges nomination papers containing
the names of nominators who do not appear on the voters roll (this
may happen because the nominator registered late, so that his or
her name could not be entered timeously in the rolls), the onus
is placed on the candidate to produce a voters registration certificate
(or certified copy thereof) of the nominator in question.
Secondly, it
is provided that a person may not lodge nomination papers for both
the House of Assembly and Senate elections. If that happens, the
nomination is voided.
Clause 36
This clause amends section 47 of the Electoral Act by providing
that the sum deposited by a candidate with the nomination officer
will be non-refundable.
Clause 37
This clause repeals section 49(3) of the Electoral Act, which makes
reference to a nomination deposit.
Clause 38
This clause will amend section 51 of the Electoral Act to require
constituency elections officers (among other considerations relevant
to the location of polling stations) to locate sufficient polling
stations in each ward of his or her constituency. It also empowers
the Commission to receive from political parties representations
on the issue of the location of polling stations, and to give constituency
elections officers appropriate directions on this issue on the basis
of such representations. Finally, new subsections are sought to
be inserted in section 51 for the purpose of ensuring that polling
stations are sited at convenient locations where there is unlikely
to be intimidation of voters.
Clause 39
The new section 54A will require presiding officers of polling stations
to make a public count, before polling begins, of the ballot papers
delivered at their stations.
Clause 40
Section 55 of the Electoral Act presently requires voters to be
divided into three groups in alphabetical order of their surnames.
This clause will abolish that requirement, so as to enable presiding
officers to arrange and manage voting queues in such manner as they
consider best. The clause will also exclude police officers from
polling stations, unless they are casting their votes or unless
they are specifically summoned to assist the election officers in
quelling a disturbance. Presiding officers of polling stations will
be obliged to keep a record of all incidents which disrupt polling.
Clause 41
This clause will replace section 56 of the Electoral Act with a
new section that contemplates the simultaneous voting for the President,
members of Parliament and members of the governing bodies of local
authorities. A voter may not vote except in the ward where he or
she is registered on the ward voters roll. Provision is also made
to benefit voters who have registered late, and whose names could
not be entered timeously in the voters rolls. These voters will
be allowed to vote if they produce to the presiding officer voters
registration certificates.
Clauses 42
and 43
At present, sections 59 and 60 of the Electoral Act empower presiding
officers, in the presence of a monitor and police officer, to assist
physically incapacitated or illiterate voters to mark their ballot
papers on their behalves. These clauses will now require presiding
officers to perform this duty in the presence of another electoral
officer, an observer or any employee of the Commission.
Clause 44
Section 61 of the Electoral Act provides for the procedure to be
followed at the close of a poll, in particular, the sealing of ballot
boxes by the presiding officer. It gives an opportunity to the candidates
and election agents present to affix their own seals, signatures
or thumb-prints to the presiding officer’s seal. The translucent
ballot boxes which replaced the wooden ones are furnished with a
new type of seal that no longer affords any space for the candidates
and election agents to do this. In any case, this safeguard became
redundant with the introduction of counting at the polling station.
It will accordingly be repealed.
Clauses 45
and 52
Sections 62 and 77 of the Electoral Act prevent candidates or their
election agents from being present at the counting of the votes
or opening of postal ballot boxes for an election for which the
candidate has not been nominated. This rule will be difficult to
enforce where concurrent Presidential, House of Assembly, Senatorial
and local council elections take place. The amendment sought by
this clause allows candidates or their election agents to be present
at the counting of the votes or opening of postal ballot boxes for
an election for which he or she was not nominated, if such counting
or opening takes place concurrently at the same polling station
with the counting of votes or opening of postal ballot boxes for
the election for which he or she was nominated.
Clause 46
Under section 64 of the Electoral Act the polling officer is required
to record the number of votes obtained by each candidate at his
or her polling station on a polling-station return and display the
same to such of the candidates or their election agents as are present.
The return or copies thereof must then be transmitted to the appropriate
constituency centre and be exhibited outside the polling station.
In practice, the exhibition of the results outside the polling station
is done before the polling station return is transmitted to the
constituency centre. The section will be amended accordingly. In
addition, certain provisions of section 69 of the Electoral Act,
insofar as they relate to the securing of the ballot boxes and the
sealing of packets containing unused and spoilt ballot papers, etc.,
at each polling station and their transmission to the constituency
elections officer; have been transferred to this section.
Clause 47
Section 65 of the Electoral Act describes the procedure at the constituency
centre after receipt of the polling-station returns: these will
be verified and collated in the presence of the candidates or their
election agents; at the same time, the postal ballots will be counted.
There are two amendments to this section. Firstly, certain provisions
of section 69 of the Electoral Act, insofar as they relate to the
sealing in packets of the polling-station returns and postal ballot
papers by the constituency elections officer, have been transferred
to this section. Secondly, provision is made for the onward transmission
by a constituency elections officer to a senatorial constituency
elections officer of polling station returns relating to a senatorial
constituency, and for their collation by a senatorial constituency
elections officer.
Clause 48
The new section 67A which this clause seeks to insert in the Electoral
Act will give candidates and political parties the right to a recount
of votes if they can satisfy the Commission that there are reasonable
grounds to believe that there was a miscount that affected the result.
Even in the absence of a request from candidates and parties, the
Commission will have power to order a recount if it considers the
votes were miscounted.
Clause 49
For the sake of compactly describing the whole procedure that takes
place at polling stations and constituency centres at the end of
a poll, all the provisions of section 69 of the Electoral Act are
proposed to be transferred to sections 64 and 65 (as explained in
clauses 47 and 48 above). Accordingly section 69 will be repealed.
Clause 50
This clause will amend section 70 of the Electoral Act, which provides
for the custody and disposal of ballot and other papers. The effect
of the amendment is that the Chief Elections Officer must cause
to be destroyed all election documentation for any constituency
not earlier than 14 days after the “election period”
(as defined in clause 14(d)), unless an election petition is lodged
in respect of that constituency. If an election petition is lodged,
the period of custody of election documentation for the constituency
concerned is six months, after which the documentation will, subject
to any court order to the contrary, be destroyed. A further amendment
requires election residue to be transmitted to places designated
by the Chief Elections Officer, instead of being transmitted to
a single centre where no space may be available.
Clause 51
This clause amends section 76 of the principal Act to lengthen the
period within which a candidate must be given notice of the sealing
of the postal ballot boxes.
Clause 53
This clause will substitute section 82 of the Electoral Act (concerned
with the administration of oaths of secrecy to presiding officers,
electoral officers, candidates and election agents) to enable presiding
officers to act as commissioners of oaths for the purposes of that
section.
Clause 54
This clause makes it clear that the failure of any person, other
than electoral officer, who is entitled to be present at the counting
and recording the total number of ballot papers received at a polling
station in terms of the new section 54A, to attend timeously at
such event, shall not prevent the electoral officer concerned from
proceeding in the absence of such person.
Clause 55
This clause will amend section 85 of the Electoral Act (setting
out offences in relation to ballot papers and ballot boxes) by making
it an offence for a person to apply for a ballot paper at a polling
station, knowing that he or she is not entitled to vote in the ward
or constituency concerned.
Clause 56
This clause will substitute section 88 of the Electoral Act with
another section that omits redundant references to monitors and
commissioners and employees of the Electoral Supervisory Commission.
Clause 57
This clause will add a new section to the Electoral Act making it
an offence for a person who applies for a ballot paper at a polling
station to refuse to undergo a prescribed test to determine whether
or not he or she has already voted or to be marked in the prescribed
way.
Clause 58
This clause will remove the requirement, in section 95 of the Electoral
Act, that the appointment of election agents (other than chief election
agents) must be notified in the press.
Clauses 59
and 61
These clauses will repeal sections 102 and 103 and amend section
106 of the Electoral Act in conformity with the Constitution, as
amended, which contemplates a Presidential election being held concurrently
with Parliamentary and local authority elections.
Clause 60
This clause amends section 105 of the Electoral Act by providing
that the sum deposited by a Presidential candidate with the Chief
Elections Officer will be non- refundable.
Clause 62
This clause will repeal section 107(3) of the Electoral Act, which
makes reference to the refund of a nomination deposit.
Clause 63
This clause will make a consequential change required by the fact
that the Presidential election will now be governed by same proclamation
as that which calls the Parliamentary and local government elections.
Accordingly, when the date for the sitting of the Presidential nomination
court is changed, this must be notified by the President by an amendment
to that proclamation, not by the Chief Elections Officer by notice
in the Gazette.
Clauses 64
and 85
These clauses will insert a new section 112A and a Fifth Schedule
in the Electoral Act, in conformity with the Constitution, as amended,
which provides in section 28(3)(b) that if a President dies, resigns
or is removed from office, the Senate and the House of Assembly
will jointly sit as an electoral college to elect a successor within
90 days. The procedure for the election as set out in the new Fifth
Schedule provides for the electoral college, under the presidency
of the Chief Justice, to decide between candidates (if two or more
candidates are nominated) by means of successive “tallies
of votes” of the members of Parliament organised into voting
blocs in support of particular candidates. A Presidential candidate
must win a majority of the votes of the electoral college at which
a quorum is present.
Clause 65
This clause will replace sections 115, 116, 117 and 118 of the Electoral
Act in order to facilitate the compilation by the Registrar-General
of Voters, under the supervision of the Commission, of ward voters
rolls, which will form the basis of voting in the simultaneous elections
for the President, members of Parliament and councillors.
Clauses 66
and 68
The Constitution as amended now requires the President, in the same
proclamation as that which fixes the date of the Presidential and
Parliamentary elections, to fix the same date for Presidential,
Parliamentary and local authority elections. Accordingly, clause
66 will repeal section 121 of the Electoral Act which contemplates
non-synchronous local authority elections. In its place two clauses
are substituted. The new section 121 provides that the town clerk
or chief executive officer of a local government body must notify
the Minister responsible for local government and the Commission
of any vacancy in the office of mayor or councillor within 21 days
of the vacancy occurring. The new clause 121A assigns to the Commission
the responsibility for fixing the date of elections for casual vacancies
in local government bodies. Additionally, the new clause 121A provides
that the date on which a ward voters roll is deemed to be closed
to further registration will be the date on which the vacancy in
local government body occurred.
Clause 67
As stated under clause 66, the Constitution now requires that Presidential,
Parliamentary and local authority elections be held simultaneously.
The same applies to elections for the office of executive mayor.
Accordingly, this clause will replace section 122 of the Electoral
Act which contemplates non-synchronous mayoral elections. It also
assigns to the Commission the responsibility for fixing the date
of elections for casual vacancies in the office of mayor.
Clause 69
This clause amends section 125 of the Electoral Act by providing
that a person may not lodge nomination papers for more than one
vacancy in the office of councillor or for both the offices of mayor
and councillor. If that happens, the nomination is voided.
Clause 70
Section 131 of the Electoral Act makes local authorities responsible
for funding their elections. The repeal of the clause will enable
the transfer of this responsibility to the Commission.
Clause 71
This clause will insert a new Part in the Electoral Act, criminalising
conduct which is intended to intimidate voters or, through intimidation,
to influence the conduct of elections.
Clause 72
This clause will repeal section 135 of the Electoral Act, which
deals with the theft or destruction of voter identification. This
act is now treated as an “intimidatory practice” under
the new Part inserted by clause 71.
Clause 73
This clause will repeal section 145 of the Electoral Act, which
requires election posters and advertisements to carry the names
of their printers and publishers.
Clause 74
Section 147 of the Electoral Act makes it an offence for persons
to engage in certain prohibited activity within 200 metres of any
polling station on any polling day. This clause will extend the
exclusion zone for such activity to an area within 300 metres of
any polling station.
Clause 75
This clause will replace section 159 of the Electoral Act, to take
account of the new class of intimidatory practices to be inserted
into the Act by clause 71.
Clauses 76,
81 and 84
The effect of these clauses is to incorporate into the body of the
Electoral Act as a separate Part the provisions on conflict management
during elections and the appointment of multiparty liaison committees.
These are presently contained in the Third Schedule to the Electoral
Act,. It is also now provided that multiparty liaison committees
be set up for local as well as national elections, and that independent
candidates be included in the multiparty liaison committees.
Clause 77
This clause will amend section 162 of the Electoral Act to provide
that the appointment of judges to the Electoral Court by the Chief
Justice shall be in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.
The amendment is made in compliance with the ruling of the Supreme
Court in the case of Marimo
& MDC v. The Minister of Justice and others (SC 25/2006).
Clause 78
This clause replaces the definition of “respondent”
(of an electoral petition) in section 166 of the Electoral Act by
a more comprehensive definition embracing a respondent who is the
President, a Senator or a councillor, in addition to a respondent
who is a member of Parliament.
Clause 79
This clause seeks to define the maximum period for the presentation
of an election petition in terms of section 168 of the Electoral
Act as 14 days from the end of the period of the election to which
it relates. This formulation resolves the ambiguity about how the
terminal date for the lodging of an election petition is to be calculated
(this is presently stated to be “14 days after the day on
which the result of the election has been notified in terms of this
Act”- is this day ascertainable by reference to section 66,
67 or 68 of the Act?) since the term “period of the election”
is to be clearly defined by this Bill (see clause 14(d)). The clause
also gives the Electoral Court a discretion as to the form of the
security that may be demanded from the election petitioner to cover
the costs associated with the election petition.
Clause 80
This clause amends section 171 of the Electoral Act by substituting
references to the Speaker with references to the Speaker of the
House of Assembly or the President of the Senate. The amendment
also takes account of the new class of intimidatory practices to
be inserted into the Act by clause 71.
Clause 82
This clause amends the regulation-making powers contained in section
192 of the Electoral Act by providing for certain additional items
for which regulations can be made by the Commission.
Clause 83
This clause amends the First Schedule to the Electoral Act by omitting
redundant references to “monitors”.
Clause 86
This clause will make consequential amendments to the long title
of the Electoral Act.
Clause 87
This clause makes minor and consequential amendments to the sections
listed in the first column of the Schedule to the extent specified
in the second column of the Schedule.
PART
IV
Clause 88
This clauses amends the Traditional Leaders Act [Chapter 29:17]
to align that Act with constitutional and electoral provisions relating
to the election of Chiefs to Parliament.
Clause 89
This clause will insert a transitional provision which provides
for the transfer of assets and liabilities of the Electoral Supervisory
Commission to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
PRESENTED
BY THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
BILL
To amend the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:17]; and
to provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.
ENACTED by
the President and the Parliament of Zimbabwe.
1 Short
title
This Act may be cited as the Public Order and Security Amendment
Act, 2007.
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