South Africa targets 1.5m new voters
Nthambeleni Gabara
13 January 2010
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is aiming to get 1.5-million new voters onto South Africa's voters' roll for the upcoming municipal elections, with voting stations opening from 8am to 5pm on voter registration weekend on 5 and 6 February.
"Currently, there are 23 181 997 voters on our voters' roll, and we are committed to increasing it with 1.5 million new potential voters," IEC Chief Electoral Officer Pansy Tlakula said at the unveiling of the 2011 municipal elections logo in Midrand, Johannesburg on Wednesday.
"We are doing our outmost in our voter outreach initiatives to reach out to as many South Africans as possible; especially voters will little or no formal education and first-time voters."
Over 60 000 registration officials have been trained for the voter registration weekend, while a further 196 000 staff members will be recruited for election day.
Tlakula urged South Africans to visit their nearest voting stations to register and to verify their details on the first weekend of February. "We urge people to go and register in large numbers, and those who have moved house should also go to re-register," she said.
- Check on the IEC website if you are registered to vote
Ballot papers, contesting elections
The 2011 municipal elections will take place in eight metropolitan, 226 local, 44 district councils and 4 277 wards. The IEC has increased its voting districts from 19 726 to 20 868, an increase of six percent.
The increased number of wards will result in 4 555 different types of ballot papers for these elections.
According to Tlakula, in a metropolitan council, a voter will receive two ballot papers, one for proportional representation (PR) and the other for ward councillor. In a local council, voters will receive three ballot papers, one for a PR, one for district councillor and one for a ward councillor.
The deposit payable for contesting elections will also increase from R3 000 to R4 000 for contesting both PR and ward elections in metropolitan councils; from R2 000 to R 2 500 for contesting both PR and ward elections in local councils.
Contesting PR elections only in district councils will cost R1 500 and R1 000 to contest as a ward or independent candidate.
Objections regarding officials
The IEC has so far dealt with 69 objections relating to registration officials who allegedly did not meet the set criteria. Officials are not supposed to be involved in active politics for at least five years. After investigation, the IEC removed and replaced 50 officials.
The highest number of objections came from Limpopo, with 38 candidates who were found to be politically active, followed by the Western Cape, with 10 candidates replaced for canvassing for a particular political party.
Source: BuaNews
