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Briefing to Home Affairs Portfolio Committee

Tuesday, 18 June 2002

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Presentation

• By-Elections– Principles and Processes

– By-Elections Report

• Registration• Questions and Answers• Closing Remarks

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By-Elections

Principles and Processes

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Introduction

• By-election:– An election between regular general municipal

elections (MSA Definition)

• Governed by the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (No. 117 of 1998)

• The Electoral Commission is responsible for management of by-elections in terms of the Municipal Electoral Act (No. 27 of 2000).

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Grounds for By-Elections (MSA s25)

• If the Electoral Commission does not declare the result of an election of a municipal council, a ward or a district management area, within the period specified in terms of the Electoral Act, (within 7 days after the voting day).

• A court sets aside the election of a council, a ward, or a district management area.

• A council is dissolved (can only occur 2 years after a general election).

• If a vacancy in a ward occurs

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Ward Vacancies (MSA s27)

• A ward vacancy occurs if:– a councillor dies

– a councillor resigns from a party

– a councillor resigns from council

– a councillor is expelled from a party

– a councillor is expelled from council

– a councillor joins a different party

• “crossing the floor” applies to an independent joining a party as well

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No By-Elections

• No by-election is needed if a PR list councillor vacates a seat (MSA Schedule 1, item 20)

• If only one candidate’s nomination is successful, then an uncontested by-election (MSA Schedule 1, item 14)

• (For now) By-elections only apply to ward councillors

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Calling a By-Election [MSA s25 (3 & 4)]

• Only a municipal manager can call and set a date for by-election, NOT the MEO

• Setting the date must occur AFTER consulting the Commission

• Municipal Manager must call and set the date within 14 days of the occurrence

• If outside the 14 days, MEC for local government calls and sets the date

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Calling and Setting the Date [MSA s25 (3 & 4)]

• The Municipal Manager places a notice in a local

newspaper

• The MEC places a notice in the Provincial Gazette

• By-election must take place within 90 days of the

date of vacancy

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Consultation with the Electoral Commission

• Upon hearing of a vacancy, the Municipal

Manager must send a letter to the Electoral

Commission (Provincial Electoral Office)

• Letter to contain

– Name of Councillor

– Councillor’s ID number

– Municipality and Ward Number

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Supporting Documents

• Death– copy of the death certificate

• Resign from council– copy of the resignation letter

– copy of council minutes showing acceptance of the resignation letter by the council

• Resign from party– letter of resignation from the

councillor

– “crossing the floor”: copy of minutes from council

• Expelled from council– Copy of council minutes showing

expulsion from the council

• Expelled from party– Copy of a letter showing the

expulsion from the party by the

branch, provincial or national party

structures (whichever has relevant

jurisdiction)

– Letter to show that the appeals or

disciplinary process of the party

has run its course

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Sending the Letter

• The Electoral Commission will only act on a

vacancy when formal letter/notice is sent by the

relevant municipal manager to the Provincial

Electoral Office

• Once the vacancy has been confirmed, the

Municipal Electoral Officer will start with

preparations for a by-election

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By-Election Timetable MEAs11

• Timetable is a legal requirement MEA s11

• Timetable is driven by the by-election notice

• Commission compiles & publishes the timetable

MEA s11(1)

• Tends to be the same for all by-elections on a set date

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Nomination of Ward Candidates

• Parties must be registered before submitting candidates MEA s13 (1)

• No limit on number of independents per ward• R500 deposit per contesting independent ward

candidate MER s11

– only bank guaranteed cheques acceptable MEA s17 (2)(d)

• All relevant documents must be in by 17:00 on Nomination Day MEA s17 (2)

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Nomination Documents

MEA s17, MER 8 to 11

Independent candidate• Nomination form – signed by voter

on the correct municipal voters’ roll (Form MEC 23)

• Acceptance of nomination form (Form MEC 26)

• 50 signatures of voters on the correct municipal voters’ roll (Form MEC 25)

• “Head & shoulders” photo of nominee

• Bank guaranteed cheque

Party candidate• Nomination form (Form MEC 24)

• Acceptance of nomination form – signed by nominee (Form MEC 26)

• Certified copy of candidate’s ID page

• Bank guaranteed cheque

All documentation must bein by 17:00 on Nomination Day.Failure to comply means no participation!

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Voter Education

• Develop education & awareness plan• Recruit & brief Municipal Field Coordinator and

Field Workers• Use all media available, including community

radio• Loud-hailers have been useful in rural areas• Distribute registration pamphlets during targeted

registration

V

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MEC 7 Scenarios

• Refers to cases where the voter is not on the voters’ roll, but has proof of registration

• MEC 7 form is to be completed properly• Proof is to be inspected

– only a valid zip-zip sticker or manual receipt

• Pay attention to:– date of registration (before date of voters’ roll closure)– place of last registration (VD number)

• Keep MEC 7 forms separate for later capture on VRS

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By-Election Day

• Reports required:– voting station open

– regular voter turnout figures

– problems encountered e.g. large number of MEC 7s, security concerns

• Inform PEO office of updates• Reports will be routed to HO Operations Centre

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Results

• Results must be captured on the evening of the by-election

• Where number of votes cast > registered voters, no capturing will be allowed without special arrangements via PEO/Head Office

• At HO, IT Team available for support through the night

• Announcement can precede capturing

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Objections Against Results

• Must follow s65 of Electoral Act

• Must be served on the Commission in Pretoria by

17:00 on 2nd day after election MEA s65 (1)

• MEO’s or PEO’s only provide guidance, they do

not accept the objection

• Act clearly specifies information required

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Check the Zip-Zip Sticker

Correct ID number1

Date ofRegistration:• Must pre-date closure of voters’ roll on timetable

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EA number:Can be ignored

VD whereregistered:• must be at same VD as by-election• split VDs in redemarcation may have different VD number as targeted registrationdid not occur

2

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Registration

PROBLEMS

PRINT VOTERS’ ROLL

Registration closes @ 17h00 on date of publication of notice

•Register with Zip Zips - not manually•Ensure full and proper completion of REC1s

PLC

MEO office only

All stations open

UPLOAD FILESTRACK UPLOADS

NO

NOTICE OF VACANCY

•Check with PEO/HO•Check date of uploads•Confirm machine numberYES

•Fieldworkers •Voter education•Recruit & train

staff

CONDUCT REGISTRATION

Plan Strategy (targeted or

weekend registration

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By-Elections

By-elections Reports

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Number of By-Elections Held

• Eastern Cape 12

• Free State 2

• Gauteng 9

• KwaZulu-Natal 27

• Mpumalanga 9

• Northern Cape 3

• Northern Province 2

• NorthWest 7

• Western Cape 8

ECFSGPKZNMPNCNPNWWC

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By-Elections Voter Registration

• Voter registration campaigns were conducted for every by-election

• Voter registration has increased steadily with each by-election

• A growth rate of 1.3% recorded in areas where by-elections were held

• Although there has been an increase in the voter registration process, a considerable number of voters has been removed

• Death has accounted for the largest number of people removed from the roll (502 944 since 1999 when the roll was first certified)

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Deaths on the Voters’ Roll

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

1999 2000 2001 Total

Deceased

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Causes of Vacancies

44%

39%

17%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

DeathResignationsExpulsions

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Causes of Vacancies by Province

EC FS GP KZN MP NC NP NW WC TotalDeath 5 1 5 15 2 1 0 3 3 35Resignatio 5 1 4 9 2 2 2 3 5 33Expulsion 2 0 0 3 5 0 0 1 0 11Total 12 2 9 27 9 3 2 7 8 79

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Causes of Vacancies by Province

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

EC FS

GP

KZ

N

MP

NC

NP

NW

WC

Tot

al

DeathResignationExpulsionTotal

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Note!

• KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have death as the

major cause of vacancies and are both at 55%

• Western Cape has resignations as the major cause

of vacancies (71.4%)

• Mpumalanga has experienced most expulsions at

55.6%

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Causes of Vacancies by Gender

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

Death

Resign

Expel

Death 32.00 3.00 35

Resign 25.00 8.00 33

Expel 10.00 1.00 11

Male Female Total

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Note!

• The major cause of men vacating ward seats has been (in order of these causes):– death– resignation– expulsion

• The major causes of women vacating ward seats has been (in order of these causes):– resignation– death– expulsion

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By-Election Party Participation and Support

Name of party Wards Contested Wards WonAfrican Christian Democratic Party 12 0Africa Muslim Party 1 0African National Congress 74 50Azanian People's Organisation 6 0Christian Democratic Party 2 0Democratic Alliance/Demokratiese Alliansie 28 8Independent 24 1Inkatha Freedom Party 37 18Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 16 0Residents Associations, Civic Organisations & Local Parties 14 1United Christian Democratic Party 7 0United Democratic Movement 22 1Workers party 1 0Ximoko 2 0Total 246 79

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Wards Won by Parties

0

100

Chart 4: Wards Won by Parties

Contested

Won

Contested 74 28 37 24 22 14

Won 50 8 18 1 1 1

ANC DA IFP Indep UDM Res

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Note!

• The ANC participated in more by-elections and won the largest number of them (50/79)

• Parties that did not win any ward are not shown• Residents Associations and local parties have been

grouped together (for the purposes of this presentation!)

• The only Residents Association that won a by-election is Ubambo Lwesizwe Independent Residents Association in KwaZulu-Natal

• Only one ward (52605007) in Nongoma (KZN) was uncontested and won by the IFP

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Women Representation

• 28% of council seats were occupied by women following the 5 December 2000 Municipal Elections

• Seats were broken down into 633 ward councillors and 1651 Proportional Representation list councillors

• Out of 179 candidates nominated for the by-elections, only 25 were women and 8 of them won

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Women Representation

Party Women CandidatesAfrican National Congress 5African Christian Democratic Party 3African Muslim Party 1Azanian People's Organisation 1Democratic Alliance/DemokratieseAlliensie

4

Independents and Res. Associations 5Inkatha Freedom Party 3Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 1United Democratic Movement 2Total 25

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Women Losses and Gains per Party

Party Name Losses Gains

ANC 7 5

IFP 3 1

DA 1 1

Independents 0 1

Total 11 8

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Note!

• A total of 12 women councillors vacated local

government through by-elections

• A total of 8 women councillors have entered local

local government in the same period

• A total of 4 seats were lost by women councillors

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Voter Turnout

• The average turnout for by-elections in 2001was

28.3%

• Voter turnout has varies from place to place, with

the lowest being 8.82% (ward 79400001 - City of

Johannesburg) and the highest being 63.25%

[ward 30701003) - Nyandeni (Libode)]• A combination of weekdays and weekends was

used for by-elections

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Spoilt Votes

• Spoilt ballots represent:– ballots not counted due to difficulties in ascertaining

voters’ choices

• Spoilt ballots ranged from 0.32% (ward 79400093 - City of Johannesburg) to 3.38% [ward 52405006 - Umvoti (Greytown)]

• The average of spoilt ballot papers in 2001 was 1,53%.

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Percentage Turnout and Spoilt Votes

Day Date Turn out SpoiltWednesday 28-Feb 30.45 1.42Wednesday 25-Apr 34.92 1.82Saturday 26-May 26.61 1.86Saturday 14-Jul 28.5 1.57Wednesday 15-Aug 20.65 0.94Saturday 15-Sep 15.71 1.65Wednesday 24-Oct 29.61 1.51Wednesday 21-Nov 26.3 0.77Wednesday 28-Nov 35.02 1.66

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Registration

.

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Background

• The EC delimited 14 650 voting districts and registered 18 172 751 eligible voters in 1999.

• The voters’ roll served as a basis for the determination of wards for the 5 December 2000 municipal elections.

• 3 754 wards were determined and are still in force.• The EC maintains the roll as was first established,

updating it regularly.• At certification for the 2000 municipal elections,

there were 18 476 519 names on the voters’ roll.

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Maintaining the Voters’ Roll

• The voters’ roll as compiled for the 1999 elections and maintained throughout the period is largely accurate.

• The Commission has detected some inaccuracies, namely:– voters registered across voting district boundaries;

– mis-located voting stations; and

– swapped voting district barcodes.

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Voters’ Registered Across Voting District Boundaries

• The Commission has established that a number of voters are registered outside of the voting district in which they are ordinarily resident.

• In the main, these problems are attributable to:– the first general registration weekend in 1998;

– a number of voting stations opening late on the first day of registration;

– inadequate voter information about where to register (a number of voters went to the nearest voting station to register - even if it was incorrect!)

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Mis-located Voting Stations

• The Commission relied on the municipalities’ local knowledge w.r.t. the location of venues;

• A Geographic Positioning System (GPS) exercise was undertaken and completed in February 2002.

• Through the GPS, the Commission has established that only 73% of the voting stations fall within the host voting districts.

• Mis-located voting stations have the effect of rendering registered voters’ details inaccurate.

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Swapped Voting District Barcodes

• The Commission has established that at the time of registration in late 1998, some of its local agents swapped voting district maps.

• This phenomenon has been detected in a small number of voting districts

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Addressing Deficiencies on the Voters’ Roll

• The Commission has adopted a comprehensive strategy aimed at addressing the deficiencies in the voters’ roll through the following projects;– delimitation revision;– address register;– voters’ roll clean-up;– spatial data enhancement;– targeted registration;– hosting of two general registration weekends prior to

2004 elections; and– continuous registration at municipal electoral offices.

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Note!

• Since 1 January 2001:

– 68 576 new voters were registered, and

– 371 255 reported as deceased and subsequently

removed from the voters’ roll (as per the National

Population Register)

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Concluding Remarks

• The subject of the maintenance of the voters’ roll is receiving serious attention of the Commission and its staff.

• At the heart of the deliberations, are alternatives on how best to provide registration facilities in a way that goes beyond simply opening voting stations and municipal electoral offices for registration.

• Particular attention is being paid on how best to assist rural voters and the youth.

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End of Presentation

Discussions