Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Order in Council, 1961
1961 No. 2314
RHODESIA AND NYASALAND FEDERATION
The Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Order in Council, 19616thDecember 1961
6thDecember 1961
On a date to be appointed by the Governor under Section 5Remainder7thDecember 1961
At the Court of Saint James, the 6th day of December, 1961
Present,
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Lord President
Lord John Hope
Earl of Perth
Mr. Erroll
Whereas Her Majesty, in pursuance of the Regency Acts, 1937 to 1953, was pleased, by Letters Patent dated the eighth day of November, 1961, to delegate to the following Counsellors of State (subject to the exceptions hereinafter mentioned) or any two or more them, that is to say, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent and Her Royal Highness The Princess Alexandra of Kent, full power and authority during the period of Her Majesty's absence from the United Kingdom to summon and hold on Her Majesty's behalf Her Privy Council and to signify thereat Her Majesty's approval for anything for which Her Majesty's approval in Council is required:
And whereas Her Majesty was further pleased to except from the number of the said Counsellors of State His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Her Royal Highness The Princess Alexandra of Kent while absent from the United Kingdom:
Now, therefore, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon being authorized thereto by the said Letters Patent, and in pursuance of the powers conferred by the Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Act, 1961(a), and otherwise, do hereby, by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council, on Her Majesty's behalf order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Grant of new Constitution.
1.—(1) Her Majesty hereby grants to Southern Rhodesia, subject to the provisions of this Order, the Constitution contained in the Annex to this Order (hereafter in this Order referred to as "the new Constitution") in substitution for the Southern Rhodesia Constitution Letters Patent, 1923(b), as amended from time to time (hereafter in this Order referred to as "the existing Constitution").
(b) S.R & O. Rev. XXI, p. 371: 1923, p. 1078.
(2) The new Constitution shall not come into operation until a law has been enacted in accordance with the provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this Order and thereafter shall be brought into operation in the manner prescribed by sections 4 and 5 of this Order.
Power of the existing Legislative Assembly to amend the electoral law in regard to certain matters.
2.—(1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in the existing Constitution, it shall be lawful for the Legislative Assembly constituted under the existing Constitution (hereafter in this Order referred to as "the existing Assembly") to pass a Bill amending the Electoral Act, 1951(a), in such manner as may be necessary or desirable—
(a) to provide that at the first general election held after the coming into force of the new Constitution, the qualifications for the franchise shall be those set out in the Second Schedule to such Constitution;
(b) to enable such general election to be held for the purpose of constituting a Legislative Assembly composed of sixty-five members elected from fifty constituencies and fifteen electoral districts delimited in the manner prescribed by Chapter III of the new Constitution;
(c) to make other necessary provision for the conduct of elections for members of the Legislative Assembly under the terms of the new Constitution.
(2) In particular, any such Bill as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall, among other things, provide for the matters enumerated in section 3 of this Order and for the provisions of the Bill to be brought into operation at such time and in such manner as will facilitate the holding of a general election in conformity with the new Constitution immediately after it shall have been brought into force. Such Bill shall nevertheless provide that the provisions of the Electoral Act, 1951, the existing voters' rolls and the electoral districts in force at the date of the making of this Order shall continue to have effect for the purpose of any elections until the whole of the new Constitution is brought into force under the provisions of paragraph (b) of section 5 of this Order.
(3) The Governor shall not assent to any such Bill as is mentioned in subsections (1) and (2) of this section except in pursuance of instructions from Her Majesty given through a Secretary of State.
Matters for which provision is to be made by amendment of the Electoral Act, 1951.
3. The matters referred to in subsection (2) of section 2 of this Order are as follows:—
A. All such provision in relation to the registration of voters, the conduct of elections and otherwise as it is deemed necessary or desirable to make on account of the contemplated division of Southern Rhodesia into fifty constituencies and fifteen electoral districts in pursuance of the new Constitution.
B. The preparation and keeping of two rolls for each constituency and each electoral district to be known as an "A" Roll and a "B" Roll. The "A" Roll shall comprise registered voters who have the requisite educational and means qualifications under section 10 of the Electoral Act, 1951, together with such additional voters as are referred to in paragraph E of this section.
(a) Act No. 27 of 1951.
The "B" Roll shall comprise registered voters who have the requisite educational and means qualifications under section 11 of the Electoral Act, 1951, together with claimants who are registered as voters under the revised qualifications mentioned in paragraph F of this section.
C. Voters on the existing electoral rolls shall be placed on the "A" Rolls or "B" Rolls, as the case may be, for the appropriate constituency and electoral district as follows:—
(a) those who are registered at the date of the coming into operation of the Bill mentioned in Section 2 of this Order, under the provisions of Sections 8 and 10 of the Electoral Act, 1951, shall be placed on the "A" Rolls;
(b) those who are registered at the date of the coming into operation of the Bill mentioned in Section 2 of this Order, under the provisions of Section 11 of the Electoral Act, 1951, shall be placed on the "B" Rolls;
(c) those who are registered after the date of the coming into operation of the Bill mentioned in Section 2 of this Order shall be placed on the "A" Rolls or the "B" Rolls according to their qualifications.
D. For the manner of voting prescribed in subsection (4) of section 61 of the Electoral Act, 1951, there shall be substituted a provision that each voter shall vote for the candidate of his first preference and, where there are more than two candidates, may, if he so wishes, record in the prescribed manner a vote for the candidate of his second preference.
E. The educational and means qualifications for voters on an "A" Roll shall be those prescribed in section 10 of the Electoral Act, 1951, but duly appointed chiefs and headmen shall, by virtue of their office, be registered as voters on the "A" Roll.
F. The educational and means qualifications for voters on a "B" Roll shall be those prescribed in section 11 of the Electoral Act, 1951, with the following amendments, additions and modifications:—
(a) for the requirement that a claimant must have been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages of not less than two hundred and forty pounds during each of the two years immediately preceding the date of his claim for registration there shall be substituted the requirement that a claimant must have been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages at the rate of not less than two hundred and forty pounds per annum during the six months immediately preceding the date of his claim for registration or must be at such date the owner of immovable property in Southern Rhodesia valued at not less than four hundred and fifty pounds;
(b) for the requirement that a claimant must have been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages of not less than one hundred and twenty pounds during each of the two years immediately preceding the date of his claim for registration, there shall be substituted the requirement that a claimant must have been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages at the rate of not less than one hundred and twenty pounds per annum during the six months immediately preceding the date of his claim for registration, or must be at such date the owner of immovable property in Southern Rhodesia valued at not less than two hundred and fifty pounds;
(c) a claimant who is over thirty years of age, who has an adequate knowledge of the English language and is able, in his own handwriting, to complete and sign the claim form in accordance with the provisions of the law, and who has been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages at the rate of not less than one hundred and eighty pounds per annum during the six months immediately preceding the date of his claim for registration or who is at such date the owner of immovable property in Southern Rhodesia valued at not less than three hundred and fifty pounds, and is otherwise qualified under the Act, shall be entitled to be enrolled as a voter;
(d) a claimant who is over thirty years of age, who has an adequate knowledge of the English language and is able, in his own handwriting, to complete and sign the claim form in accordance with the provisions of the law, and in addition has completed a course of primary education of the standard prescribed in the Electoral Act, 1951 and has been in the bona fide receipt of income, salary or wages at...
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