Synopsis:
Issue of the right of prisoners to vote in national elections. August and Others appealed against a judgment of the Transvaal High Court, which found that the IEC had no obligation to ensure that prisoners could register and vote. Sachs J, on behalf of a unanimous court, found that only parliament had the power to disenfranchise prisoners, and that in absence of such legislative disenfranchisement, prisoners retained their constitutional right to vote. The IEC was accordingly ordered to make all reasonable arrangements to enable prisoners eligible for the vote, to register as voters and vote.
