By Sy Mamabolo
South Africa’s democracy is 30 years this month on April 27. As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of our democracy, it is vital to reflect on one of its abiding successes. That is, the conduct of regular, credible, free and fair elections underpinned by values of multi-partyism, and universal suffrage as enshrined in our Constitution.
Elections serve as foundational to our democratic project. Elections foster legitimacy in governance, electoral accountability, political representation, macro-political stability and development. They are, therefore, part of our national character, without which our democratic project is nugatory.
Today, we affirm our readiness, to South Africa and her people, to conduct an election which accords with the constitutional yardsticks and international norms. We give this affirmation of readiness alive to the enormity of the challenge that rests on our hands. We stand ready to assiduously ensure that we do not let motherland down for otherwise history will have deleterious account of our charge of this task. This is, therefore, our readiness report.
Following the proclamation of the election date by the President and the provincial premiers, we published an Election Timetable on February 24. The timetable is an important statutory instrument that guides the performance of various election activities. It provides cut-off times for the performance of these important electoral activities.
In a sense, the timetable is a statutory guardrail for the preparations of the elections. It is a guiding light for electoral preparations. Compliance to the provisions and terms of the timetable is not an option but such compliance is peremptory for contestants, voters and the electoral administration itself. At the heart of an electoral enterprise such as ours is citizenship participation.
Following two rounds of registration weekends, and a sustained campaign promoting the online registration system, the voters’ roll was certified on March 12. The certification of the voters’ roll constitutes the edifice upon which a credible election is predicated.
The certified voters’ roll stands at 27.7 million voters. South Africa has not seen this level of registration since the voters’ roll was first established in 1999. Since we launched the online registration portal in July 2021, a whopping 2.4 million voters have used the portal to either register for the first time or change their registration details. Owing to the efficacy of this portal, the registration of young persons is beginning to show initial signs of recovery.
Measured against the estimated voting age population, the registration coverage in the 18–19 year-olds stands 27% whilst registration coverage stands at 48.6% in the 20–29 year-olds. Coming of a low registration base, the historical under-representation of young persons on the voters’ roll is showing welcome signs of amelioration. This can only bode well for the future of electoral democracy in the country.
To accord with historical trends, there are more female voters than there are men. A total 15.3m voters are female whilst male voters are 12.4m. The provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal jointly account for 44% of voters in the country.
Gauteng has 6.5m voters whilst KwaZulu-Natal has 5.7m voters. The province of the Eastern Cape comes in third position at 3.4m voters. In line with established electoral practice, electronic copies of the voters’ roll with redacted identity document numbers to align with national frameworks for protection of personal information have been advanced to participating contestants. This will enable contestants to canvass votes but also to enable them to verify the accuracy of the roll.
Consistent with the provisions of the election timetable on April 12 we will publish a list of all voting stations and their locations. We have now grown the network of voting stations to 23,292. In ordinary terms this means the Electoral Commission is providing a service at over 23,000 points across the country. This fact and the overriding importance of providing a consistent service at all voting stations accentuates the complexity of the forthcoming election. Voting stations are now contracted with lease agreements concluded with landlords.
There are 954 temporary sites where physical infrastructure is not available. Temporary amenities are in the process of procurement to ensure that voters who have to use these temporary facilities also vote in circumstances that affirm their inherent human dignity.
Hitherto, the public education effort had been directed at improving the registration levels. With the voters’ roll now certified, the efforts now turn to ballot education. In this regard, the effort is about presenting the three ballots to be used in the election and what each of these represents and the eventual translation of valid votes to seats in the ten legislative assemblies.
Naturally, the delivery of voter education should be through multiple media. The traditional face-to-face effort is supported by over 2,500 Democracy Education Facilitators who engage with communities in the wards. Radio, including community radio as well as television are also vital media of delivering voter education. The frequency of our educational material will increase to ensure that every voter is reached before election day.
Surely, it would be remiss not to mention social media because a significant proportion of the electorate receive news and engages politically and socially on social media platforms. These therefore form part of the mix of platforms to provide voter education and importantly to animate registered voters to vote on May 29.
A credible electoral framework must make provision for those who are in special circumstances. This is precisely because one’s constitutional right to vote does not dissipate merely because of special circumstances. Thus, varied mechanisms to access special voting arrangements are availed to the electorate. Special vote applications for purposes of home visits and voting stations visits will open on April 15 and close on May 3. Home visits are intended for those voters who are infirm or otherwise unable to travel to voting stations. Voting station special votes are for everyone who is unable to attend to the voting station on election day. Special voting will be conducted on the two days preceding election day.
Furthermore, special votes will also be administered at the diplomatic missions of the Republic. As matters stand, 58,000 voters have registered on the international segment of the voters’ roll. These voters will be provided for at the diplomatic missions of registration. South Africans who are registered on the local segments of the voters’ roll but who may be temporarily absent from the country have an opportunity to notify the commission of the intended absence and the mission where they intend to vote. Such notifications must be lodged with the Chief Electoral Officer by April 22. As at today 9,100 notifications have been approved. At the moment, therefore, there are 67,000 South Africans who are going to be voting outside the Republic. This special voting will happen at missions about 10 days ahead of general voting in the country.
Furthermore, voters who will be outside of the voting station of registration do not lose their right to vote. Such voters may still access the voting process by notifying the Chief Electoral Officer that they will not be at their voting station on election day and where they will be casting their ballots. Parliament intervened in 2021 with this requirement to fortify controls in the voting process. Notifications in this regard will close on May 17. The modalities of notification include physical forms at the local office of the commission or online on the website. As at today just under 20,000 notifications have been recorded.
In line with the dictates of the timetable the close of the nomination of candidates was on March 8. Provisional indications are that seventy political parties and 11 independents have succeeded in submitting nominations. Fifteen political parties are contesting all tiers of the elections. In total there are over 14, 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures. In the nature of candidate nomination processes there are disputes which the Electoral Court is seized with. These may marginally alter the number of contestants.
The commission will, on April 10, publish the final list of candidates as well as the list of parties to contest the various tiers of the elections. As matters stand, there are 52 parties on the national compensatory ballot. This means, decidedly, that this ballot will be configured as a dual column ballot. The rest of the 18 other ballots will remain single column ballots which have been in use since our founding elections in 1994. We will issue certificates of candidature on April 12.
The conclusion of the candidate nomination process on April 10 will enable the intractable task of printing the ballot papers for the elections. In this election, there is going to be 19 different ballot configurations. As indicated, there will be one national compensatory ballot, nine different province-to-national ballots or regional ballots in short and a further nine different provincial ballots.
Needless to say, the ballot paper is the ultimate resource for recording the voters’ choice. It must thus be produced so as to facilitate the choice rather than befog that choice. The Electoral Commission will be printing approximately 30m ballots for each of the three ballot types. This enormous task which includes printing, stitching the ballot papers into books of hundred and accurately labelled must be completed with a 30-day printing window period.
Over 95% of logistical supplies for election day are already at hand. An election is obviously a logistical undertaking of serious proportions. We are in the process of distributing 1,873 tonnes of material between our different warehousing and storage facilities across the country.
An election is about systems, the law and processes as it is about people. We are in the final stages of appointing 202,500 voting officials who will discharge the responsibility of administering the electoral process in the voting stations. These staff are being subjected to a hybrid training involving online modules as well as practical modules. Cumulatively, the training endeavour is intended that staff have an appreciation of the impartial execution of their responsibility as well as competency in administering the voting process.
In order to improve the quality of the counting and the completion of result slips, the commission is instituting a new category of staff who will support the presiding officer with the counting effort. The recruitment criteria for these staff is slightly different from the rest as high levels of numeracy are mandatory. Three such staff are being appointed for each voting station and each sub-station where we operate a voting centre.
The media remains a key cornerstone of credible flow of information about the electoral process. We implore journalists and community reporters to report truthfully, ethically, and professionally without fear or favour. Let your news items promote electoral democracy and political stability for our country. The professional and ethical conduct of those in media is even more important in these days of disinformation, misinformation and mal-information.
We urge political role players to respect the vital role of the media in the information ecosystem. The safety of journalists is our joint responsibility. Without a well-informed citizenry our desired objective of a credible election is rendered a nullity.
We urge all citizens not to be contributors to creation of instability by participating in digital harms. You are a participant when you distribute what is not true or factual and often unverified. This may cause harm to other human beings or vitiate the credibility of the electoral process. This caution is even more apt for those of us in the service of the Electoral Commission.
More importantly, political contestants must not be generators of false information that may cause harm to our electoral democracy.
In conclusion, let us collectively uphold the ideals of democracy and demonstrate our commitment to credible and transparent elections. As leaders of political parties and citizens, let us lead by example, fostering an electoral environment characterised by trust, integrity, and respect for all. For its part, the Electoral Commission commits itself to pronounce an election outcome rooted in the choices of the South African voters. As with any electoral contest, the choice of the voter is paramount!
**Mamabolo is the CEO of the IEC
**The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL