MickeyD
RIP
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2010
- Messages
- 139,117
Welcome to my guide to the voting process.
1: Obviously you must be registered to vote.
2: Find your correct voting station. You can check here: https://www.elections.org.za/content/For-voters/My-voter-registration-details/
3: The voting stations are open from 7am to 7pm on Wednesday, 3 August 2016. At 7pm the gates to the voting venue are locked and no voters will be allowed to enter.
4: When you arrive you will see party volunteers outside the boundary of the venue. They are there to assist you and to keep track of approximately how many voters will vote for them. They will probably ask you for some info (not who you are voting for). This is for them to roughly keep track of which of their members have voted.
5: Join the queue. If you require assistance (on crutches, etc), chat to the IEC officials. Bigger voting stations have IEC appointed queue-walkers. They will also check that you have a valid form of identification.
6: Show your valid identification document to the door controller at the entrance of the voting station. They will also check your left thumbnail to ensure that you have not already voted and then direct you to the correct first table.
7: Bigger voting stations normally have two streams inside the hall and it is usually split alphabetically based on your surname, e.g. A-M and N-Z.
8: Once inside the voting station your first stop will be at the table where the IEC official will use your ID Book or ID Smart Card and their eZiskan machine to find your name on the voters' roll. Once found a line is drawn through your record on the hard copy voters' roll. Sometimes they stamp your ID book but the introduction of Smart ID Cards makes this superfluous.
9: At the next table another IEC official will "ink" your left thumbnail. If you are wearing nail polish (or something else) they will overlap the inking onto your skin.
10: Next up is the table where the official will give you two (or three - see notes below) ballot papers. One is to vote for the ward councillor of your choice and the other for the political party of your choice. VERY IMPORTANT: Check that both ballot papers are stamped and that there are no markings on them. Ignore this and your vote could end up as spoiled.
11: Proceed to a vacant voting booth and make your X on each ballot paper. You will be alone in that booth. If you require assistance ONLY the IEC Presiding Officer may join you in the booth. For example, if you make a mistake you may ask him for new ballot papers.
12: Proceed to the ballot boxes. The IEC ballot box controller will ask to see the BACK of your ballot papers to ensure that they are stamped. You do not show them your choices.
You have now exercised your democratic right to vote!
Notes:
There are plenty of IEC officials, party officials and security personnel in the voting location. Absolutely nobody is allowed to influence your choice of ward councillor or political party.
Within the boundary of the voting station there may be NO political party advertising and their officials may not even wear their party clothing. However you as a voter can wear whatever you desire.
No weapons are allowed in the voting station.
The IEC staff are paid officials.
The majority of the political party folks on the premises are volunteers from the community and receive no payment for their services. Do not get upset with them if they ask you a question or two - and it won't be about your choice of vote.
The Ballot papers:
There are three different types of ballot papers.
People living in a metro will receive two ballot papers while people living outside of a metro (in local municipalities) will receive three ballot papers.
1: Ward ballot paper - has a grey and white background and will have a list of names of candidates contesting that specific ward.
2: Council Proportional Representation ballot paper - has a yellow background and lists the political parties contesting for seats in that Council. Councillors are appointed from the parties' PR list of candidates depending on the number of votes the party receives.
3: District Council Proportional Representation ballot paper - has a green background. Only voters living outside a metro will receive this ballot paper. Councillors are appointed to the district council based on the voting results and the party list.
1: Obviously you must be registered to vote.
2: Find your correct voting station. You can check here: https://www.elections.org.za/content/For-voters/My-voter-registration-details/
3: The voting stations are open from 7am to 7pm on Wednesday, 3 August 2016. At 7pm the gates to the voting venue are locked and no voters will be allowed to enter.
4: When you arrive you will see party volunteers outside the boundary of the venue. They are there to assist you and to keep track of approximately how many voters will vote for them. They will probably ask you for some info (not who you are voting for). This is for them to roughly keep track of which of their members have voted.
5: Join the queue. If you require assistance (on crutches, etc), chat to the IEC officials. Bigger voting stations have IEC appointed queue-walkers. They will also check that you have a valid form of identification.
6: Show your valid identification document to the door controller at the entrance of the voting station. They will also check your left thumbnail to ensure that you have not already voted and then direct you to the correct first table.
7: Bigger voting stations normally have two streams inside the hall and it is usually split alphabetically based on your surname, e.g. A-M and N-Z.
8: Once inside the voting station your first stop will be at the table where the IEC official will use your ID Book or ID Smart Card and their eZiskan machine to find your name on the voters' roll. Once found a line is drawn through your record on the hard copy voters' roll. Sometimes they stamp your ID book but the introduction of Smart ID Cards makes this superfluous.
9: At the next table another IEC official will "ink" your left thumbnail. If you are wearing nail polish (or something else) they will overlap the inking onto your skin.
10: Next up is the table where the official will give you two (or three - see notes below) ballot papers. One is to vote for the ward councillor of your choice and the other for the political party of your choice. VERY IMPORTANT: Check that both ballot papers are stamped and that there are no markings on them. Ignore this and your vote could end up as spoiled.
11: Proceed to a vacant voting booth and make your X on each ballot paper. You will be alone in that booth. If you require assistance ONLY the IEC Presiding Officer may join you in the booth. For example, if you make a mistake you may ask him for new ballot papers.
12: Proceed to the ballot boxes. The IEC ballot box controller will ask to see the BACK of your ballot papers to ensure that they are stamped. You do not show them your choices.
You have now exercised your democratic right to vote!
Notes:
There are plenty of IEC officials, party officials and security personnel in the voting location. Absolutely nobody is allowed to influence your choice of ward councillor or political party.
Within the boundary of the voting station there may be NO political party advertising and their officials may not even wear their party clothing. However you as a voter can wear whatever you desire.
No weapons are allowed in the voting station.
The IEC staff are paid officials.
The majority of the political party folks on the premises are volunteers from the community and receive no payment for their services. Do not get upset with them if they ask you a question or two - and it won't be about your choice of vote.
The Ballot papers:
There are three different types of ballot papers.
People living in a metro will receive two ballot papers while people living outside of a metro (in local municipalities) will receive three ballot papers.
1: Ward ballot paper - has a grey and white background and will have a list of names of candidates contesting that specific ward.
2: Council Proportional Representation ballot paper - has a yellow background and lists the political parties contesting for seats in that Council. Councillors are appointed from the parties' PR list of candidates depending on the number of votes the party receives.
3: District Council Proportional Representation ballot paper - has a green background. Only voters living outside a metro will receive this ballot paper. Councillors are appointed to the district council based on the voting results and the party list.