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Handover of ward boundaries 'the staring gun' for 2016 municipal elections: Electoral Commission

The handover of the first batch of final ward boundaries on Thursday was‚ in many respects‚ “the starting gun for our final lap of preparations for the 2016 municipal elections”‚ which have to be held within 264 days‚ the vice chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa‚ Terry Tselane‚ said on Thursday.

The current five year term of municipal councils ends on May 17 2016‚ “which means that in terms of the Constitution the municipal elections must be held between 18 May 2016 and 16 August 2016”.

“While the final decision on the date of the elections is made by the minister for cooperative governance and traditional affairs‚ after consultation with the Electoral Commission‚ we pride ourselves on being ready for whatever date is decided.

“There are just 264 days left between today and 17 May — including weekends‚ the annual holiday period in December‚ the Easter holiday period and a number of public holidays‚” said Tselane.

The municipal boundaries and their wards were the foundation for the establishment of an accurate and up-to-date voters’ roll for the municipal elections — a critical enabler for a free and fair election‚ he said.

“The handover of the final ward boundaries from the MDB (Municipal Demarcation Board) represents a key milestone in the timetable for the delivery of successful municipal elections next year.

“Without these municipal and ward boundaries we cannot ensure that voters are voting in the wards in which they live‚ for the candidates who will take responsibility for their areas for the next five years.

“Our work now starts in earnest in establishing voting districts‚ identifying voting station locations and in encouraging all eligible voters to register in their voting districts in order to participate in next year’s elections‚” Tselane said.

This was only the first batch of municipal ward boundaries. “While it comprises 75% of municipalities comprising 2‚951 wards‚ it is also a fact that the wards boundaries handed over today have not been impacted by outer municipal boundary changes.

“The impact therefore on us — and the voters — is therefore relatively limited.”

Still to come were the remainder of the municipal ward boundaries for municipalities which had changed. “These present us with a different and more complex task — which includes the important task of identifying those voting districts which have split into new wards.

“The voters in these areas need special engagement and communication from us to ensure they are aware of any changes which have impacted on their registration so that they are not disenfranchised or inconvenienced on election day.

“This requires house-to-house communication and registration activities which we plan to undertake early in December and early in the new year once we have taken receipt of the final batches of municipal ward boundaries.”

“The timelines for finalisation of the voting districts have never been this stringent or pressurised. We are confident of completing our work and preparations for the elections in time. However‚ there are co-dependencies on the MDB process and any unforeseen delays in finalising the outstanding wards will impact on our timelines.”

Tselane said an important aspect of a free and fair election “is ensuring conditions conducive to free and fair elections — including adequate time prepare‚ to communicate and to campaign for all stakeholders”.

 

 

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