The main purpose of the 30 April changes was to give candidates an extra 15 days to submit documents - 10,000 notarised signatures for presidential candidates and six documents for assembly candidates including a no-criminal-record certificate which opposition candidates often find takes a long time to obtain. The vetoed law set a new date of 25 June, but the CNE calendar sets the date as Monday 10 June, and this now in force.

However, a further problem is that the CNE calendar violates the law. There are separate and often quite different laws from President and national parliament (2-2019) and for provincial assemblies and governor (3-2019). Law 3-2019 sets 11 July as the deadline for provincial candidates but the CNE calendar does not accept this and sets 10 June. It is unclear if the CNE will follow the law and allow another month for provincial candidates.

A further problem is that the CNE still has not announced how many candidates are required. The number of candidates must be at least the total number of seats plus three extra - but can be many more. So far the CNE has published the 2019 numbers of seats and STAE has distributed an estimate of seats for this year to the main parties. Shorter time and not knowing how many candidates are needed put a squeeze on opposition parties, who may end up having lists rejected.

Two useful changes approved in April will not go ahead.

+ After voting polling station staff were to get a one hour break, but then be required to continue counting without a break until the edital is posted. The revised law also stressed that the edital must be posted. (This was to prevent a new fraud where polling station heads refused to write and post an edital where Frelimo had not done well, and just suspended the counting and left.)

+ District elections commissions would have been required to inform press and media of when and where the district count was to take place.

AR proposed changes to electoral laws - 30 Apr 2024 - 2/2019 President and AR and 3/2019 provincial