location must be clear and certain. • This is an important provision, which will enable observers and monitors to have a standard against which to determine the accuracy of votes that have been cast at any given polling station and in the election as a whole. The number of votes cast cannot therefore exceed the number that has been officially printed or distributed to each polling station. Observers (and the media) must therefore make a note of these specific details as soon as they are available so that a public record is always available. Election Agents • Clause 18 amends Section 55 of the Act so that candidates will be allowed to have one election agent in each polling station and another agent outside but within the “immediate vicinity” of the polling station ready to relieve the first one when necessary. This must be read alongside Section 95(5) which empowers the Commission to prescribe that only one election agent may be appointed to represent a party during concurrent elections. It is important to note that the language preferred is that the agent stationed outside must be within the ‘immediate vicinity’ which means he must be stationed very close to the polling station and the law enforcement agents must be apprised of this requirement so that agents are not unnecessarily harassed. The legislature would not have used the word “immediate” to describe the “vicinity” if it did not intend that the agent must be in close proximity with the polling station. Police Officers’ Restricted Role • The second and probably most significant provision introduced by this clause relates to the role and power of the police officers at polling stations. Under the new Section 7a, police officers are prohibited from interfering with the electoral process at any polling station. It is notable that the language used is peremptory and does not offer discretion to the police. It says, police officers, “(b) shall not interfere with the electoral processes at a polling station”. They are not even allowed to enter a polling station unless they have been called upon for help or to cast their votes. Also important is that when inside the polling station, police officers come under the 27