Elections are testing times for all of us – voters and politicians alike – although it may be for different reasons.
I represented the party recently at the signing of the Code of Conduct with a view to the election on 8 May.
The ‘rules’ and Code of Conduct apply to all 36 parties (14 new ones) registered to participate in the upcoming election, and especially to the one who always ignores them.
These are the rules:
• Political parties may not distribute false, misguiding or defamatory information about another opposition party in any way or form.
• No political party is allowed to campaign on voting day – not by issuing pamphlets, smses, phone calls or street walking.
• Political parties may not ‘fetch’ voters from their vehicles on arrival at the voting stations on voting day – you are not fish and we are not fishermen.
• No political party may block or hinder voters’ entrance into the voting station for any reason.
• Very importantly – and this refers to voters being misled – you are only registered with the IEC to vote, not with any political party. You may be a member of a party but you are still registered as a voter with the IEC. All participating political parties are issued with the same Voters Roll with all registered voters’ names on it. Your information is not limited to a specific party and you may vote for the party of your choice.
It is misleading and untrue for any opposition party to make you believe another party is ‘too small and you will be wasting your vote’.
South Africa has a proportional voting system which means every single vote counts, regardless of the size of the political party you vote for.
Voters should please note that the closer to voting day, the fiercer the election campaigns from participating parties become. The gloves will come off, the teeth will be bared and the growling will start.
Through all of this mayhem, remember one thing: all of this will pass soon enough.
What is most important is that it is not about the political parties or politicians, it is about the voters, their best interests and a better future than what we are facing now.
To vote is your constitutional right.
