The National Assembly yesterday adopted the Electoral Amendment Bill ahead of a DA court bid to have it rewritten to secure a provincial vote for South Africans living abroad.
The Bill, which gives expatriates the right to vote for the National Assembly only, was approved by all parties except the official opposition, notes a report on the News24 site. The party found itself accused of attempted 'vote-rigging' by Deputy Home Affairs Minister Fatima Chohan. She said it was common knowledge that the DA was lobbying all its supporters abroad to cast provincial votes in Gauteng in the 2014 elections should the court case succeed. 'It creates huge opportunities to skew the outcome of the provincial election. In plain language this is called vote-rigging,' she said. The DA's Masizole Mnqasela insisted that by the Bill was disenfranchising expatriates. Full report on the News24 site