VOTING OUTSIDE OF METROPOLITAN AREAS

VOTING IN MUNICIPALITIES WITH WARDS

Voters living in secondary cities and towns big enough to have wards (those entitled to more than seven councillors) will have three votes:

  • Two votes for representatives in their local council:
    • One vote for their ward candidates.
    • One vote for the political party they would like to represent them on their local council.
  • One vote for representatives on the district council:
    • A third vote for the political party that they would like to represent them on the district council.

"Two elections" at the same time

Essentially, this new system means that voters will take part in two municipal elections at the same time if they do not live in a metropolitan area. This is because there will be two municipalities in which they have a stake - their local council and their district council.

VOTING IN MUNICIPALITIES WITHOUT WARDS

In municipalities that are too small to have wards (that is, with fewer than seven councillors) only the proportional representation system applies. In these areas, citizens will have two votes:

  • One for a representative for their local council - so one vote for the political party they would like to see running the local council.
  • One for a representative on the district council - so another vote for the political party they would like to represent them at the district council.

Electing district councillors

The councillors of all district councils will be elected in a different manner than in the past. Forty percent (40%) of all district councillors will be proportional representation councillors, directly elected by all voters living in the district council area.

Sixty percent (60%) of seats will be allocated to councillors who are elected by and from local councils.

If there is a district management area in the district, some of this 60% will be councillors elected from the proportional representation votes cast by voters in that area.

HOW COUNCILS WILL APPOINT THEIR REPRESENTATIVES TO THE DISTRICT COUNCIL

Once councillors are elected on to the local councils, they will have 14 days in which to appoint representatives to the district council. If the council has one seat, the representative will be elected by a simple majority vote.

However, if a council is allocated more than one seat at the district council, the election is more complicated. Every councillor or party will have the right to draw up a candidates' list of councillors. Each councillor may only be on one of the lists. Each councillor then votes for a list. The seats on the district council will be allocated proportionally according to the number of votes for the different lists, beginning with names from the top of each list. Should a councillor resign or withdraw from the district council, the next person on the list will go forward. This will ensure that different political parties and interest groups are fairly represented in the councillors representing the local council on the district council.

VOTERS LIVING IN DISTRICT MANAGEMENT AREAS

While the government aims to ensure that everyone is represented by primary local government structures, there are some areas where a local municipality is not a viable option. The few rural areas not covered by a local council will be called "district management areas".

Voters in district management areas will also have two votes. These will both be for political parties rather than for individual, or ward candidates.

One vote will be for the political party voters would like to represent their district management area on the district council. The other vote will be for the political party that voters would like to see controlling the entire district council.

This is an attempt not to discriminate against voters who don't have primary-tier structures in their area, by giving them their own representatives on the district council, rather than one proportional representation vote which simply goes into the pot with all the other proportional representation votes from the other local councils.

Giving people the chance to elect parties directly to represent their interests is a way of addressing all voters' desire to have their very own councillors take up their specific needs.

Vote quota formula: calculating seats on councils

To work out how many votes are needed for a party to win a seat on a metro, local or district council, the electoral officers will count the total number of votes cast for all parties - both the proportional representation votes and the votes for ward candidates affiliated to parties. They will then divide this total by the number of seats allocated to that council and add one (to rule out the possibility of a tie).

(Total votes cast / Number of seats ) + 1 = votes needed per seat

For example, 50 000 votes are cast for political parties contesting elections for the Thembalethu District Council. The Thembalethu DC consists of 10 seats. That means that every seat represents at least 5 000 votes.

The same formula is used to calculate how many votes a candidate needs to represent a district management area on the district council. In other words, electoral officers will divide the total number of votes cast by voters in the district management area for all parties by the number of seats allocated to the district management area on the district council and add one.

Once the quota of votes per seat has been worked out, electoral officers will allocate seats to parties by dividing the total number of valid votes cast for each party by the quota of votes per seat. If the result is a fraction (for example, 2,5) the fraction will count as one whole seat.

Total votes cast for Party A / Quota of votes per seat = Seats allocated to Party A

So, if Party A wins 20 000 votes in the Thembalethu District Council election, and each seat is worth 5 000 votes, this means that Party A has won four seats.