The National Assembly passed the electoral reform bill on Thursday evening, ending a three-week standoff over provisions governing how polling unit results are transmitted and collated.
The bill cleared both chambers after an amended clause extended the window for transmitting results from polling units to ward collation centres. The change was the central point of contention throughout the debate.
What the bill changes
The legislation sets out a transmission window, requires the commission to publish polling unit results in a machine-readable format, and creates a dedicated channel for parties to raise discrepancies before collation is finalised.
- A defined transmission window between polling units and ward collation centres.
- Mandatory publication of polling unit results in a machine-readable format.
- A formal dispute channel for parties to raise discrepancies during collation.
Supporters argue the machine-readable requirement is the most consequential change, because it makes independent verification of results practical rather than theoretical.
The value of publishing results is not in the publishing itself. It is in whether anyone outside the commission can check the numbers.
Concerns over timing
Opposition members who voted against the bill said the implementation timeline is too short. Their objection is not to the substance of the reforms, but to whether the commission can build the systems and train staff in time.
That objection has precedent. Previous electoral reforms passed late in the cycle have run into implementation problems, with some provisions applied only partially in the first election after passage.
The bill now moves to the president. If signed, the commission has said it will publish an implementation schedule within thirty days.
