More on Elections

Induction, Part 8c

From the IEC web site

More on Elections

Above is a graphic representation of the voting process in a voting station on the day of an election, whether National and Provincial, or Municipal.

Local Authority (Municipal) Elections

Local Authority elections are held every five years in South Africa, on a different cycle to that of the National and Provincial elections. The last local authority elections took place in 2011, and so the next ones are expected in 2016.

Councillors are elected by a hybrid system that is half Proportional Representation (PR) and half “First Past the Post” by ward constituency.

So, your ward has an elected councillor, like all the other wards; and then there are an equal number in total of “PR” councillors. These are appointed by the different parties according to the proportions of votes cast, by party.

In South Africa, councillors are salaried and are encouraged to regard themselves as professionals, with skills and capacities. They receive training. One of the consequences is that they develop a second loyalty. The councillors may begin to regard themselves as being representatives of government to the people. Whereas the local branch of the ANC wants the councillor to be their representative, and the people in general expect to be represented by those they elect.

This contradiction is a natural development, given the nature of bourgeois democracy. It causes problems that can be destructive, if not anticipated, and managed.

Once again on Registration

The attached document is a reproduction of the IEC web site page on registration as a candidate in a Municipal election.

Some other pages with instructions on registration are the following:

How to Register as a voter: http://www.elections.org.za/content/Dynamic.aspx?id=569&name=For

How to Check Registration: https://www.elections.org.za/content/Pages/AmIRegistered/VoterRegistrationStatus.aspx

How to Register a Political Party: http://www.elections.org.za/content/Dynamic.aspx?id=558&name=P..

FAQs: http://www.elections.org.za/content/Pages/FAQs/Dynamic-FAQ.aspx?id=374&menuid=95&header=For%20voters

• The above is to introduce an original reading-text: How to contest municipal elections.