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 IEC: Expats must act quickly after ruling
    March 12 2009 at 12:38PM Get IOL on your
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By Beauregard Tromp, with additional reporting by Louise Flanagan and the Independent Political Bureau

Registered voters living abroad will be able to vote in the upcoming elections.

On Thursday morning, the Constitutional Court ruled that people who had registered to vote would be allowed to do so.



It declared regulations that sought to deny them the right to vote invalid and inconsistent with the constitution.

A cabinet decision had scrapped the right of those who were overseas on holiday, on a business trip, at an international sporting event or a tertiary institution to vote via a special vote.
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Now, all South Africans outside the country who have registered as voters will be able to vote, but they must notify the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of their intention to vote before March 27.

The initial motion before the High Court was brought by Willem Richter, a 27-year-old teacher who has been living in Britain for the past two years.

Richter, a member of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), holds a working-holiday visa and felt he should be allowed to vote in the elections. He has no intention of settling in Britain and plans to return to South Africa at the end of this year.

"There's this opinion that South Africans abroad forgot about the country and they just left it. I think it is a minority; the majority is still very involved," Richter told Carte Blanche in an interview recently.

"When the first round of registration was going on, I contacted Willie Spies at the Freedom Front... I wanted to know what I have to do to vote.

"And he let me know that if I'm on a work permit I can't vote and the Freedom Front has been presenting this case for the last five years. They've been fighting this case, and they said they will take this for me to court," he said.
Carrying the legal costs, the FF+ lodged the application against the ministers of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, as well as the IEC.

Richter was joined by Roy Tipper, the IFP and the DA. A further application to allow citizens living abroad to register was brought by a Mr and Mrs Moloko, who live in Dubai.

Last month, North Gauteng High Court Judge Piet Ebersohn ruled that section 33 of the Electoral Act and some of its regulations were invalid. He referred the matter to the Constitutional Court for confirmation and for his order to take effect.

"South Africa citizens who are abroad and are registered as voters will be allowed to vote. Those who are not registered will not," Constitutional Court Justice Sandile Ngcobo said in his judgment.

The IEC would be able to implement the order, it said.

"We run an efficient system and I can assure South Africans we'll be able to pull it off," IEC chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula told e.tv soon after the judgment this morning.

"I don't think what the court has ordered will be difficult to implement," she said
Tlakula said the IEC had started gearing up for this possibility.

"We plan for the worst scenario... We made some contingency plans."

She said about 5 000 South Africans outside the country had already notified the IEC they intended to vote.

"We are relieved this is over; there is certainty on the matter."

Opposition parties welcomed the news.

DA federal chairman James Selfe said they were relieved the court had agreed with them on the matter.

"We are delighted at this outcome. We have been approached by 20 000 people outside (the country) and we will communicate this decision to them," he said.

FF+ leader Pieter Mulder said they were pleased that after fighting all the way to the highest court in the land, they had succeeded.

"It shows that we can make a difference. The government tried to frustrate us by fighting, (but) the court sent out a message. The ball is now in their (overseas voters') hands. The ruling tells us about the maturity of our democracy," he said.

  • Read the full story in the print edition of The Star today.

    • Showing page 1 of 3 comment pages, 22 total comments
    36 Weeks ago Smith wrote :
    You will still need to fill the VEC10 form out and mail it to vec10@elections.org.za. The reason for this form is to figure out how many people will be voting everywhere in the world so that ballots can be printed. Currently you might be registered in Pofadder and you find yourself in London perhaps. You can only vote at one of the South African Foreign missions which a lot of South Africans are not ever near. A list is available at http://www.dfa.gov.za/foreign/sa_abroad/index.htm
    36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
    I am currently on a work permit in Auckland, New Zealand, and we do not have an Embassy or High Commissioner's office in New Zealand. Will I still be able to vote, and where?
    36 Weeks ago Mairesa wrote :
    I am a South African living in the US. I registered and voted back in 1992 and again 1994. I don't believe the votes from abroad ever made it back to SA in 1994!! A few years later I was advised I was no longer considered a citizen as I had "lived outside the country for too long". I struggled to regain my citizenship for more than two years before applying for US citizenship and had 'stateless refugee" status for another two years after that. I had to travel to a parent's funeral on an emergency travel document due to lack of any citizenship!! If losing one's right to vote is now being considered unconstitutional - how would losing one's citizenship via birthright (2nd generation South African - with TWO birth certificates!!) be now considered. AND I am not alone as an expat ... I have been recently advised that I have permanent residency status available to me in South Africa however that does not allow me to vote!!
    36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
    Anonymous: This applies to all expats now. See http://www.1stcontactenews.co.uk/post/South-Africans-Living-Abroad-Granted-Voting-Rights!.aspx on what to fill in on the form to register for your special vote. the 27th Feb is no longer the deadline, 27 March is.
    36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
    We are ex pats registered to vote in SA and now I hear we need a VEC 10 form which was to have been submitted by 27th February...was this for the previous regulation of short stay expats overseas OR does it also apply to everyone now? In which case we are probably disqualified? Please let us know how we vote and where we vote in the UK. Dankie,Siyabonga,THANKS
    36 Weeks ago Sipho wrote :
    This will check if you registered,.... I am yipppppeeeee. https://www.elections.org.za/AmRegister/amregister.aspx This is to read about what to do and where? http://www.elections.org.za/ And this is the link for saffas in London http://www.southafricahouse.com/ Vote vote
    36 Weeks ago USA wrote :
    @ Bryce ... thanks for info ... so registering isnt too difficult, but can one only vote at the SA embassies ? for a lot of people that would mean catching a flight to the embassy !!! in USA theres only 4 embassies.
    36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
    We are ex pats registered to vote in SA and now I hear we need a VEC 10 form which was to have been submitted by 27th February...was this for the previous regulation of short stay expats overseas OR does it also apply to everyone now? In which case we are probably disqualified? Please let us know how we vote and where we vote in the UK. Dankie,Siyabonga,THANKS
    36 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
    Most important thing is to first check if you are registered to vote, which you should be if you have voted in the last two or three elections (not sure how far back it goes). Go to https://www.elections.org.za/amregister/amregister.aspx and type in your ID number. If you aren't registered, you can't vote.
    36 Weeks ago bryce wrote :
    I recieved an email from the IEC with instructions on how to register: Go to the website www.elections.org.za click on IEC home page > Voting > Voting Forms > Print VEC10 form, and e-mail the signed form back to IEC using vec10@elections.org.za by 27 March 2009.
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