1 Readiness for 2011 Local Government Elections (LGE) Presentation by the Chief Electoral Officer Adv. Pansy Tlakula PC on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) 22 MARCH 2011

Legislative framework Electoral Commission Act (No. 51 of 1996) Electoral Act (No. 73 of 1998) Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (No. 117 of 1998) Local Government: Municipal Electoral Amendment Act, 2010 Electoral Regulations

Electoral system Mixed system: closed PR List and ward constituency 2 municipal elections have been held: 2000 and 2006

Major legislative amendments Section 55: Special voting Section 65: Objections material to result of election 4

5 Special Votes Section 55 “Any voter who is unable on voting day to cast his or her vote at the voting station in the voting district where he or she is registered, may in the prescribed manner, apply and be allowed prior to voting day to cast a special vote within that voting district.”

Objections material to result of election Section 65 New sect 65 defines what “any aspect of an election” means, enhances the powers of the EC when deciding an objection, reviews the period within which the objection must be disposed of, clarify the powers of the Electoral Court, and most importantly, re-regulates the process to enhance effectiveness and fairness. Objections would now be filed before or after the results; 6

Objections material to result of election And includes alleged unlawful— (i) interference with or obstruction of election activities or processes in the vicinity of, at or in a voting station; or (ii) interference with or influencing, intimidation or obstruction of voters or prospective voters in the vicinity of, at or in a voting station. 7

8 Voter Registration Two registration weekend activities were conducted: –5 and 6 February 2011; and –5 and 6 March 2011 Before the registration weekend of 5 and 6 February 2011, there were voters on the voters’ roll Following the first registration weekend, the Voters’ Roll stood at Following the second registration weekend, the voter’s roll currently stands at 23,6 million voters

Voter Registration Cont… Over the two registration weekends a total of persons registered or re-registered as voters apart from numerous others who verified their details on the voters’ rolls that were available at every voting station for public inspection and this was a very good outcome. The provincial spread of new registrations for the two registration weekends indicated that most occurred in KZN ( ) followed by Gauteng ( ) and the Eastern Cape ( ). 9

1st voter registration weekend: 5 & 6 February ProvinceNew RegRe-Reg Same VD Re-Reg VD Move Total Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KZN Limpopo Mpumalanga North West N. Cape W. Cape

1st voter Registration Weekend Cont.. A total of voters registered over the first registration weekend. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of new registrations with followed by Gauteng with , and Eastern Cape with

2nd voter registration weekend: 5 & 6 March persons visited the voting stations that were opened for the second voter registration of 5 and 6 March to register as first time voters or to re-register new registrations took place; which is some 41% of the registration activities for the weekend. The highest number of new registrations for the last weekend were in KZN ( ) followed by Gauteng ( ), Western Cape (68 297) and the Eastern Cape (66 648). 12

Current registration figures ProvinceMunicipalitiesDMAsWards Voting Districts Registered Voters Eastern Cape ,5603,107,104 Free State ,3201,384,776 Gauteng ,4805,586,903 KwaZulu-Natal ,3584,640,172 Limpopo ,7812,337,316 Mpumalanga ,5651,715,296 North West ,5701,576,210 Northern Cape ,591 Western Cape ,5702,699,625 Totals278*04,27720,85923,618,993 13

14 Voters’ roll comparison Voters’ RollVerified Voters% Increase 1999 NPE LGE % 2004 NPE % 2006 LGE % 2009 NPE % 2011 LGE23 618, 993

15 Progress to date : voting stations, no voters’ roll : VDs, 18,1 million registered voters (avg reg voters per VD) : VDs, 18,4 million reg voters (1 233) : VDs, 20,6 million reg voters (1 219) : VDs, 21 million reg voters (1 116) : VDs, 23,1 million reg voters (1 171) : 20, 859VDs,23,7 million reg voters

16 Civic and Democracy Education (CDE) The Commission is implementing CDE using: –Skilled facilitators at local, provincial and national level. –Partnership with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) – sectoral CSOs (Democracy, Human Rights, Peace and Elections) with educational mandates complementing those of the Commission. –Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement (C9s, state departments, private sector, MDDA, Unions, etc) and Training of Facilitators at all levels –Collaboration with organisations dealing with special sectoral stakeholders (SANCB, DEAFSA, etc.) –Outreach Projects

Communication Awareness Campaigns Worked with media houses to train journalists covering elections to ensure understanding of the electoral processes; Working with community, commercial, and the public broadcaster on programming of communication awareness and voter education campaigns on both radio and television. Radio remains the leading disseminator of information and campaigns correlates with this reality. New initiatives that have contributed to reaching the youth – these are: –Twitter – –Mobile site – mobi.elections.org.za Maintaining the toll-free number, website and sms facilities, all of which have generated significant hits since the beginning of this year

Election Timetable On 03 March, the Acting President Kgalema Motlanthe announced the date of election to be 18 May The Voters’ Roll was closed on 10 March following proclamation of the date of election by the Acting Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr. Nathi Mthethwa on 10 March. The Commission consulted with the Party National Liaison Committee on the Election Time-Table on 11 March The Election Time –Table was published in the Government Gazette on 11 March 2011.

Election Timetable The election timetable outlines and gives time frames for the following processes; The Voters’ Roll to be used for the 2011 municipal elections was certified and made available for inspection on 18 March By 17h00 on 25 March, the Political Parties and Independent candidates who intend to contest the 2011 municipal elections must notify the Commission of their intention to participate in these elections. By the same time on that day, Political Parties and nominators of independent candidates must nominate ward and independent candidates and submit party lists of candidates. Payment of the prescribed deposit must also be made on that day by 17h00.

Election Timetable The election timetable outlines and gives time frames for the following processes; Cont… Political Parties or independent candidates will be notified of any non-compliance regarding outstanding documents on 4 April Political Parties and independent ward candidates will have until 17h00 on 8 April to submit any outstanding documents to the Commission. The Commission will compile a list of the parties that will be contesting the elections, and certify their candidate lists on 12 April, The Commission will also on that day compile a list of candidates that will be contesting in each ward.

Election Timetable The election timetable outlines and gives time frames for the following processes; Cont… 15 April will be the starting date for the submission of applications for special votes. On 21 April, the Commission will give notice that the copies of a list of voting stations, and their addresses are available at municipal offices and will also give notice of the routes for mobile voting stations, including locations and estimated times of stopping. On 29 April, the Commission will issue certificates to persons whose names appear on a party list and to each ward candidate. At 17h00 on 3 May, the applications for special votes will close

Election Timetable The election timetable outlines and gives time frames for the following processes; Cont… From 08h00 to 17h00 on 16 May, registered voters who qualify for special voting will cast their special votes at the voting station in the voting district where they are registered. From 08h00 to 17h00 on 16 and 17 May, the Commission’s voting officers will visit the homes of registered voters who qualify to cast special votes and who had applied for home visits.

23 Election deposits To contest an election parties or independent ward candidates must pay an election deposit Election TypeLGE 2006LGE 2011 Metro CouncilPR List and Wards R3 000R4 000 Local CouncilPR List and Wards R2 000R2 500 District CouncilPR ListR1 000R1 500 Ward – IndependentWardR500R1 000 Candidate of a party that has not submitted a PR list WardR500R1 000

24 ProvinceVD Count Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape 655 Western Cape Voting Districts

25 Province Number of Votingstations Number of Substations Eastern Cape4999 Gauteng KwaZulu- Natal46131 Limpopo1028 North West24 Western Cape Voting Centres

26 LevelNumber National108 Eastern Cape9 Free State2 Gauteng9 KwaZulu-Natal3 Mpumalanga6 Limpopo7 Northern Cape1 North West4 Western Cape27 Total176 Registered Parties

27 Election officials Approx election officials for the elections Training programme being rolled out and close to officials will be trained before voting day Criteria for the appointment of election officials (presiding and deputy presiding officers, in particular) include: –Presiding (and deputy presiding) officers must not in the last five years have held political office or been a candidate in an election or have been politically active for a political party –must not in the last five years have held office in an organization that has party political affiliations or aims. Party Liaison Committees (PLCs) consulted on appointment of presiding officers before contracts are concluded

28 Voter turnout in our previous elections NPE % LGE % NPE % LGE % NPE % LGE 2011

Challenges Generally lower voter turn-out in municipal elections (despite an even higher registered population for the 2009 National and Provincial Elections); Disputed ward and municipal boundaries; More complex logistical demands (also the multiplicity of ballot papers making Braille Template extremely difficult) Parallel structures within political parties

30 Thank you!