The Senate has advanced a major legislative overhaul aimed at enhancing the credibility of the nation’s elections. A bill to repeal and replace the Electoral Act 2022 and enact the Electoral Act 2025 passed its second reading, centralising mandatory electronic transmission of results as a core reform.
The move follows growing public pressure to resolve the ambiguities and technical issues that affected the declaration of results in the 2023 general elections.
The attempt to introduce a new electoral law seeks to consolidate democratic gains and correct shortcomings from the 2023 polls. The current law requires that election results be transferred “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission,” which led to disputes over the use of technology. The proposed 2025 Act removes this ambiguity by compelling the Presiding Officer to transmit results “both electronically and manually.”
The amendment seeks to alter the election calendar, stipulating that presidential and gubernatorial elections must now hold not later than 185 days before the expiration of the term of office. This could push the next major elections from early 2027 to late 2026. The bill also includes new provisions such as recognising the voting rights of prison inmates and introducing a digital voter identification system.
The bill will proceed to the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters for detailed review, with a deadline to conclude its work in two weeks. The Senate leadership has expressed confidence that the entire reform process will be finalized by December 2025, well ahead of the projected 2026/2027 elections.
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