(MENAFN) South African political organization ActionSA is advocating for revisions to the Electoral Commission Act and the Electoral Act to better regulate the conduct, publication, and circulation of political opinion polls during or ahead of election periods, aligning these practices with global standards.

In its draft Electoral Laws Amendment Bill 2025, presented by ActionSA MP Lerato Ngobeni, the party seeks to fill an existing legal gap by calling for the creation of the Office of the Polling Ombud.

This new oversight body, to be established within the Electoral Commission of South Africa, would supervise both political opinion and exit polling.

ActionSA proposes that the office be empowered to register polling organizations, ensure compliance with regulations, impose fines, and maintain transparency in all political polling activities.

The envisioned office would also manage political opinion and exit polls by enforcing mandatory registration, requiring disclosure of relevant information by polling organizations, and determining specific timeframes for when polling results may or may not be released.

Additionally, the office would forbid the official printing and dissemination of any political opinion poll related to an upcoming election within seven days before that election.

The party’s push for these reforms follows concerns arising from last year’s national and provincial elections, when a disputed poll was published without revealing the identity of the commissioning party or the organization that conducted it, raising questions about transparency and accountability.

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