Citation Act No. 41 of 1931 Date commenced 10 June 1931 | Date of Royal Assent 10 June 1931 Date repealed 1 May 1946 | |
Bill Franchise Laws (Amendment) Bill | ||
The Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, was an act of the Parliament of South Africa which removed all property and educational franchise qualifications applying to white men. It was passed a year after the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930, which extended the franchise to all white women. The consequence of these two acts was that all white people over the age of 21 (except for those convicted of certain crimes and those declared mentally unsound by a court) were entitled to vote in elections of the House of Assembly.
The act retained the property and educational qualifications for black and coloured men, who were in any case only eligible to vote in the Cape Province. The result was a further dilution of the electoral power of the non-white population.
The act was repealed in 1946 when the franchise laws were consolidated into the Electoral Consolidation Act, 1946.