South Africa’s municipal elections will be held on 01 November 2021 to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country’s nine provinces.
These will be the sixth municipal elections held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 – municipal elections are held every five years.
Below are key things to know when voting:
– About 26 million South Africans are eligible to vote.
– Over 95 00 candidates have qualified to contest in 4 468 wards across the country.
– There are 325 parties to choose from.
– You’re able to check your registration status and find your voting station via elections.org.za.
– At the entrance of the voting station you are required to show a valid identification document (green barcoded ID book, smart-card ID or temporary ID certificate), which will be scanned and you will be presented with a slip that confirms that you are a registered voter.
– Once inside the voting station, an election official will take your ID document and check for your name and identity number on the voters’ roll. Your name will then be crossed off – this is a manual mechanism for ensuring that voters only vote once.
– An election official will then ink your left thumb nail. This is a special ink that will not wash off your nail for several days. This ink mark will show everyone that you have participated in the election.
– You will be handed ballot papers – with a stamp at the back.
– For municipal elections voters in metros and local councils receive two ballot papers (one for a ward councillor and one for a political party as part of the PR section of the election. Voters in areas which form part of a district council receive a third ballot paper for the district council election.
– Your green ID book, if that was your identification document, will then be stamped by an election official to show that you participated in the election.
– Voting starts at 7am on November 1 and ends at 9pm on the same day.
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