Low voter turnout sets off alarm bells
"For the rest of the afternoon to get to about 57% - which was the previous turnout in the local government elections - I think is a bridge too far," he says.
While thousands of South Africans headed to the polls on Monday to cast their vote in the Local Government Elections (LGE) 2021, commentators have warned that the turnout was worryingly low.
Political analyst, Theo Venter said by 2 pm on Monday, 14% of eligible voters had made their mark with voting stations set to close at 9 pm
"For the rest of the afternoon to get to about 57% - which was the previous turnout in the local government elections - I think is a bridge too far," he says.
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Venter says while local elections generally experience lower voter turnout rates than national elections, the trend for 2021 confirmed their fears.
"The election is on a Monday for the first time in our history and it's in November, which already made us skeptical," he says.
The concerns around the time of year for the vote- which was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic - is that the weather is very unpredictable and Cape Tonians had to brave the rain on Monday to vote. In other parts of the country,s trong winds hindered the voting process.
Venter says a low voter turnout could be to the detriment of bigger parties.
"Typically your bigger parties pay the price," he says, explaining that smaller parties gain statistically in the Proportional Representation (PR) system.
"Secondly, they gain because typically, people voting for smaller parties are far more ideologically committed and they would go to the polls despite the rain or the heat."
