Amended electoral law is the 'missing puzzle' — IEC head

The Electoral Commission has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Electoral Amendment Bill into law, saying the assent provides the necessary legal certainty required to prepare for the 2024 general elections.

“This for us was a missing puzzle in the whole equation,” IEC chair Mosotho Moepya told journalists on Monday.

The new law provides for independent candidates to contest elections for provincial and national legislatures.

Moepya said the commission has approved an integrated chart of electoral milestones containing all activities and timelines that underpin preparations for next year’s elections.

“Time is of essence indeed. We are a year away from the elections at the earliest opportunity and we will have to be ready to conduct an election at the earliest opportunity, and so we welcome this enactment of the law,” he said.

He highlighted some of the determinations of the act regarding participation of independent candidates which include that:

• An independent candidate may be nominated to contest in one or more regions but may only be elected to one seat in the National Assembly.
• An independent candidate may only be nominated to stand in a provincial legislature in a province in which they are registered.
• An independent candidate may only be a member of either the National Assembly or a provincial legislature.
• A prescribed declaration confirming that the candidate has submitted names, identity numbers and signatures of voters who support his or her candidature.
• In relation to the election of the National Assembly, the names must equal 15% of the number of votes required to obtain a seat for that region in the preceding election if contesting only one region.
• 15% of the highest of the quotas in the preceding election, if intending to contest in more than one region. Where the 15% of the highest of quotas is not achieved, that independent candidate may only contest in the region or regions as determined by the next highest quota met.
• In relation to a provincial legislature, 15% of the votes required to obtain a seat in the preceding election, in respect of that province.

Further requirements include:

• Candidates must pay a prescribed deposit. Deposits paid by independent candidates may be different from those paid by political parties.
• Candidates must undertake to be bound by the Electoral Code of Conduct.
• Candidates must sign a declaration that they are not disqualified in terms of the constitution.
• In respect of provincial elections, candidates must sign a declaration that they are registered in that province. Registered political parties that do not have seats in any legislature or the National Assembly will have to meet the same 15% quota requirement and also pay a deposit.

The amended act also provides for an additional ballot paper in the election of the National Assembly thereby offering voters a nonbinary choice of either a party or independent.

The effect of this is that the regional and compensatory ballots are separate (two ballots instead of a single ballot as was previously the case), said Moepya.

The regional ballot for the National Assembly includes parties and independents. The other (national) ballot contains only parties to restore proportionality, he said.

The ballots for the regional seats in the National Assembly will be region-specific in a manner similar to provincial legislature ballots.

The introduction of the second ballot for the election of the National Assembly, will result in an increased number of ballot papers to be printed without the corresponding increase in time lines.

The number of ballot papers for provincial legislature elections remains unchanged at one ballot per province. These will contain the names of parties and independent candidates.

Moepya said the IEC will open its network of about 24,000 voting stations over the weekend of November 18-19 to register new voters for the next elections and to facilitate inspection of the voters’ roll.  

The IEC boss said the foremost implications of the act are that, for the first time, individuals who are not associated with political parties will stand as candidates for elections for legislatures and the National Assembly and that it commits the country to a process of electoral reform beyond the 2024 elections.

Now that the policy choices for the coming elections have been made, the Electoral Commission will move with speed to finalise the supporting business applications necessary for the implementation of the act, said Moepya.

These include, among others:

• Rewriting the candidate nomination system to facilitate the participation of independent candidates and unrepresented political parties together with a portal to enable candidates to capture the details of voters who support their candidature,
• Redeveloping the results system to facilitate the recording of votes cast in favour of independent candidates and translating these into seats where the relevant threshold is met,
• Updating platforms and mechanisms of liaison with parties to also include independent candidates,
• Reviewing the political party funding legislation to include funding of elected independents,
• Ensuring enactment of consequential amendments and regulations to enable the realisation of the objects of the act.

Civil society organisations lobbied for parliament not to pass the law, saying it contradicts the Constitutional Court ruling, will disadvantage independent candidates and that the public participation process was inadequate.

They threatened to go back to court if the bill was signed into law in its current form.

On Monday, IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said a legal challenge would prolong the uncertainty but the commission would continue with its work while court processes unfold.

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