{"id":988,"date":"2026-02-04T19:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hallowmace.com\/?p=988"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:46:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:46:41","slug":"senate-passes-electoral-act-amendment-bill-2026-rejects-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hallowmace.com\/?p=988","title":{"rendered":"Senate Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, Rejects Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"cs-header cs-header-stretch cs-scroll-sticky\" data-scheme=\"inverse\">\n<div class=\"cs-header__outer\">\n<div class=\"cs-container\">\n<div class=\"cs-header__inner cs-header__inner-mobile\">\n<div class=\"cs-header__col cs-col-left\">\n<div class=\"cs-logo cs-logo-mobile\">The Senate has passed the third reading of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026. The bill introduces several changes to election timelines, technology, and penalties, while retaining certain existing provisions.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p><main id=\"main\" class=\"cs-site-primary\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-site-content cs-sidebar-enabled cs-sidebar-right\">\n<div class=\"cs-container\">\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"cs-main-content\">\n<div id=\"primary\" class=\"cs-content-area\">\n<div class=\"cs-entry__wrap\">\n<div class=\"cs-entry__container\">\n<div class=\"cs-entry__content-wrap\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Legislative Changes and Rejections<\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Electronic Transmission of Results (Clause 60)<\/h4>\n<p>The Senate rejected a proposed amendment to make the electronic transmission of results mandatory.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Rejected Proposal:<\/strong>\u00a0Would have required presiding officers to transmit polling unit results to the IREV portal in real time after forms were signed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Adopted Provision:<\/strong>\u00a0The Senate maintained the current law, which allows the Commission (INEC) to prescribe the manner in which results and accreditation data are transferred.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Voter Identification and Accreditation (Clause 47)<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Technology Upgrade:<\/strong>\u00a0The Senate officially replaced \u201csmart card readers\u201d with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation and voting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Voter ID:<\/strong>\u00a0Lawmakers rejected electronically generated voter identification. The Permanent Voter Card (PVC) remains the sole mandatory mode of identification at polling units.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Revised Election Timelines<\/h4>\n<p>The Senate approved significant reductions to administrative timelines:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Notice of Election (Clause 28):<\/strong>\u00a0Reduced from 360 days to 180 days before the election date.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Submission of Candidate Lists (Clause 29):<\/strong>\u00a0Reduced from 180 days to 90 days before the general election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Penalties for PVC Offenses (Clause 22)<\/h4>\n<p>The Senate rejected a proposed 10-year prison sentence for the buying and selling of PVCs. Instead, it:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Retained the two-year imprisonment term.<\/li>\n<li>Increased the fine from \u20a62 million to \u20a65 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Legal Evidence and Non-Compliance (Clause 142)<\/h4>\n<p>The Senate struck out Clause 142, which would have allowed parties to prove non-compliance using only original or certified documents without the need for oral evidence. The provision was removed to prevent what lawmakers termed a \u201cwaste of time in court.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Ballot Paper Inspection (Clause 44)<\/h4>\n<p>The Senate retained the existing process for ballot paper verification:<\/p>\n<p>Parties have two days to submit a written approval or disapproval of their representation on those samples.<\/p>\n<p>INEC must invite political parties to inspect their identities on sample electoral materials at least 20 days before an election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Senate has passed the third reading of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026. The bill introduces several changes to election timelines, technology, and penalties, while retaining certain existing provisions. Key Legislative Changes and Rejections 1. Electronic Transmission of Results (Clause 60) The Senate rejected a proposed amendment to make the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[116,2,19],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-assembly","tag-electoral-act","tag-nass","tag-senate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senate Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, Rejects Technology -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hallowmace.com\/?p=988\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, Rejects Technology -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Senate has passed the third reading of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026. 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