IEC in race against time for elections amid new electoral act

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the bill into law on Monday. 

The bill will allow independent candidates to stand in provincial and national elections in 2024. 

Commission says it will move with speed to finalise the supporting business applications necessary for the implementation of the Act. 

The Commission will now have to rewrite the Candidate Nomination System to facilitate the participation of independent candidates and unrepresented political parties. 

They also have to redevelop their results system for the recording of votes cast in favour of independent candidates and translating votes into seats where the relevant threshold is met. 

IEC Chairperson, Mosotho Moepya says this includes reviewing the Political Party Funding legislation to include funding of elected independents. 

"An independent candidate may be nominated to contest in one or more regions but may only be elected to one seat in the National Assembly,” says Moepya.  

“An independent candidate may only be nominated to stand in a provincial legislature in a province in which they are registered.” 

"An independent candidate may only be a member of either the National Assembly or a provincial legislature, a prescribed declaration confirming that the candidate has submitted names, identity numbers and signatures of voters who support his or her candidature," he says.  

"In relation to the election of the National Assembly, the names must equal 15% of the number of votes required to obtain a seat for that region in the preceding election if contesting only one region, 15% of the highest of the quotas in the preceding election if intending to contest in more than one region. 

"Where the 15% of the highest of quotas is not achieved, that independent candidate may only contest in the region or regions as determined by the next highest quota met. In relation to a provincial legislature, 15% of the votes required to obtain a seat in the preceding election, in respect of that province." 

Moepya says independent candidates must pay a prescribed deposit which may be different from those paid by political parties. 

"Candidates must undertake to be bound by the Electoral Code of Conduct, candidates must sign a declaration that they are not disqualified in terms of the Constitution, in respect of provincial elections, candidates must sign a declaration that they are registered in that province." 

Moepya says the amended Act provides for an additional ballot paper in the election of the National Assembly thereby offering voters a non-binary choice of either a party or independent. 

"The effect of this is that the regional and compensatory ballots are separate (two ballots instead of a single ballot as was previously the case), the regional ballot for the National Assembly includes parties and independents. 

"The other (national) ballot contains only parties in order to restore proportionality, the ballots for the regional seats in the National Assembly will be region-specific in a manner similar to provincial legislature ballots.

"The introduction of the second ballot for the election of the National Assembly, results in an increased number of ballot papers to be printed without the corresponding increase in time lines. Thus the ballot printing window remains an immutable 28 days.

"The number of ballot papers for provincial legislature elections remains unchanged at one ballot per province. These will contain the names of parties and independent candidates" add Moepya

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