NOW that President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the 2024 election date, the question is do voters know how to vote?
Political analyst Tessa Dooms is not convinced that there was enough voter education, considering that for the first time, voters will receive three ballot papers.
She said instead of having two ballots on election day (one national and one provincial) there will be three ballots for the first time since 1994.
“I have a few unique concerns about this election but the biggest one is voter education. The way we vote will be different and I don't think the majority of people know that,” she said.
She said the voting will be “complex” because the third ballot will be a regional to national ballot.
“This is complex because here regional actually means provincial, and it will elect both individuals and parties into a portion of national MP seats,” said Dooms.
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She pointed out that the new ballot will also have both political parties (and the lists they have) and independent candidates on the same list.
“This means 'Jane Ndlovu' as one person will compete with the whole list of the IFP on the same ballot,” she said as an example.
Stats SA explained that voters will get three ballot papers and not two like previous elections.
Dooms said in the past, calculations that mattered were how dividing the number of people who voted by the seats to see how many votes are needed for one seat and to determine the cut off for the smallest parties.
She indicated that this year, IEC will need new formula to calculate how many more votes per seat independent candidates need than parties and a calculation about what to do with "extra" votes for independents.
“We have three months to the elections, and I worry that we have not started with mass voter education and re-education because we have not yet seen the IEC explain how all that is in the new laws will be translated into practical changes. I think we need all hands-on deck,” said Dooms.
The IEC declared its commitment to ensuring a successful election, following extensive voter registration campaigns.
With the voter roll standing at 27,6 million, the IEC urged eligible voters to register before the anticipated proclamation of the election date.
