VOTING is not a complicated process but mistakes can happen and confusions can occur as voters step into the ballot box and unfold the papers for the municipal elections on Wednesday, August 3.
In the metropolitan election, as in Johannesburg for example, a voter is handed two ballot papers. The one ballot paper is to vote for the ward councillor and the other ballot paper is to vote for a political party.
On the ballot paper for the ward councillor there will be a series of pictures of the possible selections. If the candidate is an independent candidate, with no political party affiliation, the face of that candidate will be displayed. However, for a candidate who is affiliated to a political party the emblem of the party will be displayed and not the picture of the candidate you are voting for. The person who gets the most votes on this ballot paper then wins the ward. Voters must carefully consider who they are voting for and vote for the candidate who will serve their community best.
On the other ballot paper a list of political parties will appear. Here the voter selects the party that they support. An independent candidate does not appear on this ballot paper as they are not affiliated to a political party. The votes on this ballot paper then allows that particular party to place proportional representation councillors in wards. The number of PR councillors for each party is determined according to a legislated formula.
Basically the major difference between a ward councillor and a proportional representation councillor is that the ward councillor has a budget for the ward and the PR councillor does not. So the election of the ward councillor is of paramount importance, if the voter requires that their ward be improved and serviced properly.
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