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 The Electoral Act 

Arrangement of Sections

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PART V 
ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND REGULATION OF ELECTIONS

  

12. (I) An Electoral Commission established under article 76 of the Constitution shall consist of a Chairman and two other members, who shall be appointed by the President.

Provided that, where an Electoral Commission is established solely for the purpose of a by-election for a member of the National Assembly, the Electoral Commission may consist of a single Commissioner who may exercise all the powers of the Electoral Commission relating to the direction and supervision of that election other than the power to make or alter regulations.

(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as Chairman of a Commission or as a Commissioner-  
   (a) unless he holds or has held high judicial office;  
    (b) if he is a member of, or nominated as a candidate for election to the National Assembly.

(3) If, after the appointment of a Commission and before the Commission stands dissolved, the office of Chairman or any member of the Commission falls vacant or the holder of the office becomes unable for any reason to discharge his functions as a member of the Commission, the President may appoint another person qualified for appointment to be the Chairman or a member of the Commission, as the case may be.

(4) A Commission established for the purposes of article eighty- one of the Constitution shall stand dissolved upon such date as the President may determine, and a Commission established for any other purpose shall stand dissolved on such date (not being earlier, in the case of a Commission established upon a dissolution of Parliament, then the date upon which Parliament first sits after that dissolution) as the President may determine.

Electoral Commission


13. In the exercise of its functions under the Constitution, a Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

Independence
of Electoral Commission


14. The registration of voters and the conduct of every election shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Commission.

Supervision by Commission


15. (I) In respect of any election, the Commission shall have power to appoint for any constituency or province such election officers as it may deem necessary for the purposes of such election, and any election officer may exercise his functions in respect of the whole or part of a constituency or province or in respect of more than one constituency as prescribed by the Commission.

(2) In respect of any election, the election officer may, subject to the general or special directions of the Commission, appoint any fit person to assist him in the exercise of his functions under this Act, and may, at any time, revoke such appointment.

(3) Every election officer shall. before exercising any of the functions of his office. take and subscribe such oath. or make such affirmation in lieu thereof, as the Commission may prescribe.

(4) The Commission may, at any time, revoke the appointment of an election officer.

(5) Every election officer shall, be paid such remuneration and allowances in respect of his duties as the Commission may deter- mine.

( 6) In this section "election officer" means a person appointed by the Commission to be-

(a) a registration officer;

(b) an assistant registration officer;

(c) an electoral officer;

(d) a returning officer;

(e) a presiding officer;

(1) a polling assistant;

(g) a counting assistant;

and includes any person appointed to assist an election officer under subsection (2); and, where functions are conferred on the Director of Elections under this Act in respect of any election, includes the Director of Elections.

Appointment, renumeration and functions of election officers

 

16. The Commission may-

(a) require from any election officer such information and returns as it may consider necessary;

Power of Commission to require information


(b) subject to the provisions of this Act, issue instructions to any election officer in connection with his functions under this Act; .

(c) issue instructions to any candidate in an election in respect of the use of motor vehicles by or on behalf of such candidate during the day on which such election is to be held.

and issue instructions

17. (1) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and of this Act, the Commission may, by statutory instrument, make regulations providing for the registration of voters for the purposes of elections and for the procedure and manner of conducting elections; separate regulations may be made in respect of each category of elections.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (I), the Commission may, by statutory instrument, make regulations providing for all or any of the following matters-

(a) the division of constituencies into polling districts;

(b) the establishment of polling stations in polling districts;

(c) the registration of voters;

(d) the preparation of, and the form of, registers to be used in

the registration of voters;

(e) the manner of ascertaining whether persons applying for registration as voters are qualified for registration or for their inclusion in a register for a particular constituency;

(/) the making and determination of appeals, claims and objections with respect to the registration of voters;

(g) the correction, amendment and certification of registers of voters;

(h) the circumstances in which the name of any person may be deleted from a register of voters, the transfer of the names of persons from the register of voters or one polling district to that of another polling district and the restoration of names of registers of voters;

(i) the nomination of candidates for any election and the manner of establishing and recording that a candidate at a direct election for the National Assembly is the authorised candidate of a political party;

U) the making and determination of appeals against the rejection of nominations by a returning officer;

(k) the publication of the names of candidates whose  

       nominations are accepted;

(l) the payment of election fees by candidates, and the circumstances in which such fees are to be returned;

(m) the use of symbols at an election;

(n) the appointment of, and the duties of, election agents and polling agents;

( o) the equipment and facilities to be provided at polling stations; 

(p) the persons who may be admitted to polling stations;

(q) the manner and procedure of voting at an election;

(r) the manner of ascertaining the identity of persons wishing

to vote at elections and whether such persons are qualified to vote;

(s) the manner in which persons who are blind, or otherwise incapacitated, may vote;

(t) voting by persons employed on election duties on the day of an election;

(u) the maintenance of secrecy at elections;

(v) the postponement of, and the adjournment and extension of, time for a poll in case of riot or open violence at an election;

(w) the administering of oaths or affirmations by election officers in respect of such matters as may be prescribed;

(x) the procedure to be followed at the conclusion of a poll in an election;

(y) the procedure for counting votes in an election, and the circumstances in which votes in an election may be rejected by a returning officer as invalid;

(z) for the purpose of declaring any candidate duly elected, the procedure to be followed where there is an equality of votes between candidates in an election for members of the National Assembly;

(aa) the procedure to be followed where-only one person is duly nominated for election to the office of President, or in a constituency for election to the National Assembly;

(bb) the declaration, notification and publication of the results of an election;

(cc) the custody and disposal of nomination papers, ballot papers, records, documents or other things relating to the registration of voters and the conduct of elections;

(dd) election expenses and the return of election expenses;

(ee) the notification and publication of any casual vacancy in the elected membership of the National Assembly and the fixing of a date for an election to fill such vacancy;

(f) the fixing of a date for an election of a President or an election following a dissolution of the National Assembly;

(gg) the forms and records to be used for any of the purposes of this Act;

(hh) any matter to be prescribed by or under this Act.

(3) Before making any regulations which make any separate or distinct provision in respect of the functions of the returning officer for the election of a President, the Electoral Commission shall consult the returning officer.

(4) Regulations under this section shall not be affected by the dissolution of the Commission by which they are made but shall remain valid and in force. subject to any amendment or revocation by a sub- sequent Commission.

(5) Regulations under this section may provide in respect of any contravention thereof that the offender shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand six hundred penalty units or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both.

(As amended by Act No.13 of 1994)

(6) No prosecution for an offence against this Act shall be commenced after the lapse of one year from the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.

Regulatory powers of
Commission

   

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