Briefing to Home Affairs Portfolio Committee

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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 candidates 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
• Councillors 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 1700 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 candidates ID page
• Bank guaranteed cheque
• All documentation must be
• in by 1700 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

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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 gt 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
  1700 on 2nd day after election MEA s65 (1)
• MEOs or PEOs only provide guidance, they do not
  accept the objection
• Act clearly specifies information required

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Check the Zip-Zip Sticker
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Registration
PRINT VOTERS ROLL
PROBLEMS
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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

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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
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Causes of Vacancies
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Causes of Vacancies by Province
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Causes of Vacancies by Province
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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
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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
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Wards Won by Parties
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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
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Women Losses and Gains per Party
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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
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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