FF+ joins bid to secure voting rights for citizens abroad

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) filed papers on Wednesday at the Constitutional Court to join expatriate Willem Richter in his bid to secure voting rights for citizens abroad, the party said.

Party leader Pieter Mulder said the party, which had been providing financial support and legal expertise to Richter, was now “formally joining in the proceedings”.

“The party now joins the proceedings in order to put the practical running of elections before the court and to confirm the party’s support for the judgement in the Pretoria High Court regarding the right for South African citizens working or living abroad to vote,” the party said in a statement.

Richter—a teacher in the United Kingdom—and the respondents, the ministers of home affairs and foreign affairs as well as the electoral commission, would have to file submissions and answering affidavits before March 4, when the matter will be heard in the Constitutional Court.

The Pretoria High earlier this month ruled that South Africans abroad should be allowed to vote.

The court ruled that the Electoral Act “limited” the casting of votes to people temporarily living abroad.

It referred the judgement to the Constitutional Court for confirmation.

Mulder on Wednesday welcomed the Inkatha Freedom Party, who joined the constitutional proceedings as a friend of the court.—Sapa