The Electoral Amendment Act will have financial implications: IEC

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says besides dealing with budget cuts in an election year, they also have extra expenses flowing from the Electoral Amendment Act.

The IEC’s officials appeared before Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee to among other things, discuss its budget and timetable for the 2024 general elections.

The May 29 vote, will be the first that allows independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections.

The commission’s Chief Financial Officer Dawn Mbatha says they are going into elections with a budget cut of R281 million and with the financial implications of the Electoral Amendment Act, such as the introduction of a third ballot paper.

Mbatha says, “The projected longer ballot and this does have financial implications, also the impact of the longer ballot has an impact on electoral material like boxes and security seals. Also the increase of staff and increase expected in litigation.”

VIDEO: IEC media briefing on state of readiness for 2024 general elections: