1. Portfolio Committee 2 May 2017
2016 Municipal Elections
Portfolio Committee 2 May 2017

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE Legislative Framework Election Goals
Salient Numbers
Outreach Campaigns
Innovations
Voter Participation
Results Processes
Voters’ Perspectives
Challenges 2

3. Legislative Framework
s157 of the Constitution provides principles for the electoral system for local government:
S157 (2)(a) Proportional representation OR
S157(2)(b) Proportional representation combined with ward representation
157 (3) the system in 157 (2) MUST result in general in proportional representation
Municipal Structures Act provides for the details of the electoral system 3

4. Legislative Framework
Municipal Electoral Act provides for candidate nomination
Half the number of councillors must be elected directly from wards
Balance of councillors to be elected from party lists
Ahead of election Demarcation Board delimitate ward boundaries
MEC’s proclaims the number of councillors per muncipality 4

5. Legislative Framework
Amendments to the Municipal Electoral Act
Providing for recognition of Smart ID cards
Providing for on-line candidate and a streamlined nomination process
Providing circumstances and number of time a voter may request a new ballot before depositing same in the ballot box
Clarifying the collation process of results for by-elections
Amending the modalities for the payment of election deposits 5

6. Election Goals Register at least 1 million new voters
1.3 million new voters enlisted to the voters roll
A record certified voters’ roll with 26.3 voters
Improve accessibility to voters in special circumstances
A record special vote applications processed
More than half using the internet or SMS to apply 6

7. Election Goals Improve accessibility and simplify candidate nomination
A record number of parties and candidates contested these elections
Almost half used online candidate nomination system
Improved voter turnout on 57.6% of 2011
Achieved a voter turnout of % in 2016
Reduction in spoilt votes on 1.89% in Actual reduction to 1.83% in 2016 7

8. Salient Numbers LGE 2016
record number of registered voters for this election: 26.3 million
record number of special vote applications three times that of 2011:
Special votes were approved
record number of voting stations:
record number of parties contesting the elections: 205
record number of candidates: 8

9. Certified Voters Roll: LGE 2016
Province
Female
% of Prov Total
Male
Prov Total
% of Total
Eastern Cape
1,908,575
57.19%
1,428,957
42.81%
3,337,532
12.67%
Free State
809,121
55.00%
661,878
45.00%
1,470,999
5.59%
Gauteng
3,215,834
51.58%
3,018,988
48.42%
6,234,822
23.68%
KwaZulu-Natal
3,052,876
56.42%
2,358,361
43.58%
5,411,237
20.55%
Limpopo
1,521,360
59.52%
1,034,768
40.48%
2,556,128
9.71%
Mpumalanga
1,047,802
54.60%
871,414
45.40%
1,919,216
7.29%
North West
900,655
52.50%
814,805
47.50%
1,715,460
6.51%
Northern Cape
332,780
53.56%
288,530
46.44%
621,310
2.36%
Western Cape
1,676,893
54.68%
1,389,756
45.32%
3,066,649
11.65%
Total
14,465,896
54.93%
11,867,457
45.07%
26,333,353 9

10. New Registrations: Provincial Breakdown
Province
Female
% of Total New Registrations in Province
Male
TOTAL New Registrations in Province
% of TOTAL New Registration Activity
Eastern Cape
94,870
52.82%
84,735
47.18%
179,605
12.97%
Free State
34,004
53.04%
30,103
46.96%
64,107
4.63%
Gauteng
160,084
52.16%
146,831
47.84%
306,915
22.17%
KwaZulu-Natal
187,825
53.20%
165,220
46.80%
353,045
25.50%
Limpopo
70,482
55.66%
56,140
44.34%
126,622
9.15%
Mpumalanga
50,606
53.21%
44,508
46.79%
95,114
6.87%
North West
36,637
52.05%
33,746
47.95%
70,383
5.08%
Northern Cape
16,928
50.57%
16,545
49.43%
33,473
2.42%
Western Cape
83,543
53.90%
71,447
46.10%
154,990
11.20%
TOTAL
734,979
53.10%
649,275
46.90%
1,384,254
100.00% 10

11. Special Votes per province
Approved Home Visits
Approved Voting Station Visits
Total special votes
Percentage (Rounded)
Eastern Cape
46 881
24 230
71 111 10
Free State
24 327
31 415
55 742 8
Gauteng
30 121
48 868
78 989 11
KwaZulu-Natal
50 342
29 856
80 198
Limpopo
41 052
14 243
55 295
Mpumalanga
28 310 28
North West
37 389
29 934
67 323 9
Northern Cape
27 117
29 584
56 701
Western Cape
30 058
21 159
51 217 7
Grand Total
100 11

12. Candidate Nomination 12 PR Ward Total OCNS candidate submissions
16 307
22 659
38 966
Manual candidate submissions
12 844
17 386
30 230
Total candidate submissions
29 151
40 045
69 196
Disqualified candidates
2 408
3 070
5 478
Total candidates after disqualification
26 743
36 975
63 718 12

13. Voting Districts 13 Province Number of VDs: 2000
Number of VDs: 2006 (% change)
Number of VDs: 2011 (% change)
Number of VDs: 2016 (% change)
Eastern Cape
3 087
4 368 (41)
4 560 (4)
4 699 (3)
Free State
1 061
1 186 (11)
1 320 (11)
1 531 (15)
Gauteng
1 979
2 172 (9)
2 480 (14)
2 716 (9)
KwaZulu-Natal
3 336
4 064 (21)
4 358 (7)
4 792 (9)
Mpumalanga
1 023
1 259 (23)
1 565 (24)
1 744 (11)
Northern Cape
396
621 (56)
655 (5)
710 (8)
Limpopo
1 796
2 274 (26)
2 781 (22)
3 111 (11)
North West
1 020
1 488 (45)
1 570 (5)
1 723 (9)
Western Cape
1 290
1 441 (11)
1 570 (8)
1 586 (1)
TOTAL
14 988
(25)
(10)
(8) 13

14. Outreach Campaigns
Election campaign “MY TOMORROW IS IN MY HANDS” broadcast nationally in 11 languages
2.5 million SMS messages to register (age 17-25)
made to the contact centre
social media interactions
1 376 democracy education facilitators for 10 months leading up to the elections 14

15. Outreach Campaigns SABC Education Partnership
Right to win (democracy game show)
Walala Wasala – Youth magazine show
Education fillers
Radio stations 15

16. Innovations Online Candidate Nomination probably the world first
SMS application for special votes
Office for Electoral Offences
Located in the office of the CEO
3 legal firms appointed
39 cases investigated 16

17. Voter Turnout 17 Age Voters' Roll (A) VP - Total Received
VP - Adjusted (B)
% Turnout by Age (A/B)
>=18 <=19
506,561
312,967
361,727
71%
>=20 <=29
5,776,599
2,508,697
2,899,547
50%
>=30 <=39
6,435,335
2,802,954
3,239,649
>=40 <=49
5,267,987
2,688,631
3,107,514
59%
>=50 <=59
4,029,592
2,409,965
2,785,433
69%
>=60 <=69
2,486,564
1,563,875
1,807,524
73%
>=70 <=79
1,220,124
703,422
813,014
67%
>=80
610,591
244,251
282,305
46%
Total
26,333,353
13,234,762
15,296,711
58% 17

18. Voter Turnout 18

19. Timing of Voting 19

20. Results Collation Process
Counting of votes happen at the voting station in the presence of party agents and observers
The results are recorded and agents verify the recording of the count by affixing their signature to the result slip
Results slips are captured and the image scanned at local offices and are audited before being published
Credibility and transparency is enhanced through 10 election results operation centres 20

21. Results Collation Process
Political parties have access to view and verify the scanned image and captured result
Political parties could report discrepancies which are investigated avoiding objections
Once all the results for a municipality has been captured and audited the results system avails seat allocation report
The results system is audited by external auditors
Political parties had an opportunity to audit the system 21

23. Seat Calculation

24. Results Announcement Results must be announced within 7 days
93% of results were captured and available within 24 hours
LGE 2016 results announced 3 days after the election.
On 10 August 2016 (7 days after voting day) after processing multiple seats and insufficient lists elected councillors were published
Municipal councils could thus constitute 24

25. Voters Perspectives (HSRC survey)
Average time to a voting station: 16 minutes
72 % waited less than 15 minutes to vote
84% found voting stations to be accessible to persons with disabilities
95% expressed satisfaction with the secrecy of the vote.
91 % reported that no one tried to force them to vote for a political party
91% felt that the election procedures were free and a further 4% said it was free with minor problems 25

26. Key Challenges Late finalization of boundary determinations
Resistance to ward and municipal boundary re- determinations affecting election preparations
Addresses on the voters’ roll
Unfunded projects
Address harvesting
Extending expansion staff contracts 26

27. END 27