DURBAN - VOTERS in eThekwini and other hotly contested municipalities can expect the ballot paper to be extra long due to the large number of parties and individuals contesting for power in Monday’s local government elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said in some areas, the ballot paper will be the length of 4 A4 pages put together.
The width will remain the same.
The IEC said this is the longest ballot ever used in a South African election.
Durban residents are among those that should expect this long ballot paper due to the sheer volume of those contesting.
The Mercury recently reported that there are more than 50 independent candidates that are contesting in the municipality and just as many political parties.
The IEC’s Mawethu Mosery said this year's ballot paper would be very long, but he believed that the size would not compromise the confidentiality of the voting booth.
Mawethu, jokingly referring to the length of the ballot paper, said: “I saw a cartoon recently, where the ballot paper is so long that while someone was in the voting booth, people were walking on the ballot, and I thought artists have a way of communicating their messages.”
The IEC said over the past few years, the number of parties that have been registering for elections has been growing, and this year has been no exception.
“We are confident that based on the voter education we have given to our staff, the way we put our voting booths, we put them facing the wall to make sure that no one can see the voter searching up and down for their party, all these measures will ensure that the secrecy of the vote is protected.
“This is really anyone’s election, it will come down to the organisations that are contesting as well as the candidates that the person has put forward whether it's a candidate that the community knows, who works for the community” , he said.
He said nationally there are 10 000 seats that are being contested by 95 000 candidates.
THE MERCURY