8 circumstances. As I have always spoken with candour to my colleagues, I felt I had to share these concerns. Objections were also raised against the use of the phrase: “assistance to handicapped voter” in the long title of the Act. Therefore, the amendments substitute the phrase: “assistance to handicapped voters” in the long title of the Act for “assistance to voters with disabilities”. I hope that these amendments may be in the best interest of our fledgling democracy and may avert threats of legal action which could have the effect of disrupting our preparations for next year’s elections. I urge that this House accepts the Electoral Laws Second Amendment Bill. I thank you.” [12] From the above it is clear that the decision to disqualify certain classes of voters, like the applicant, from voting, was a political decision and not one of necessity. [13] The nature of and the contents of the right of a South African citizen to vote must now be examined. In the case of August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others 1999 (3) SA 1 (CC) Yacoob J stated the following in paragraph [17] of the judgment: “Universal adult suffrage on a common voters' roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity. Rights may not be limited without justification and legislation dealing with the franchise must be interpreted in favour of enfranchisement rather than disenfranchisement.”