South Africa News

IEC: Number of parties could decrease #Elections2019

IEC: Number of parties could decrease #Elections2019. The IEC believes the number of parties contesting the national and provincial elections could come down from 285, which are currently registered.

IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said once Ramaphosa had set the date, they would send out a timetable to the parties. Several parties have registered with the IEC, with some being formed by former members of the ANC.

But the IEC said on Tuesday, in a media briefing in Cape Town, that they would get the full picture of the parties who would contest the polls after President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced the date for the elections.

At the moment there are 285 parties registered, said Mamabolo. “Once the president proclaims a date, parties must pay deposits of R200000 for the National Assembly and R45000 for the provincial legislatures,” said Mamabolo. “(After that) we will have an indication of how many parties will contest the elections,” he said. The timetable would include certain criteria to be met by parties, including the payment of deposits to contest the elections.

Sy Mamabolo

There are currently 13 parties represented in Parliament. However, the outcome of the elections would determine how many would make it to the national legislature. In announcing the outcome of the registration weekend, the IEC said there were 700000 new voters registered across the country.

This pushes the number to 1.19 million new voters, including those who registered in March last year. Mamabolo said there was now a total of 26.7 million people on the voters roll.

However, the IEC was still concerned that, according to Statistics South Africa, there were still 9 million voters, mainly young people, who were not registered.

Mamabolo encouraged young voters to register, saying they could still do so at the IEC’s offices. This could be done until Ramaphosa announced the date for the elections.

The elections are scheduled to take place in May, but the president has yet to announce a date. Mamabolo said they expected Ramaphosa to announce the date next month.

He said 74% of voters were now on the voters roll. “The registration coverage of 74% compares favourably with the previous elections. We have been hovering between 75% and 78%. This is the norm, not a departure from the norm,” said Mamabolo.

Source: IOL News