Elections 2024: How does a party win the elections?

When citizens go to the polls and make their marks on their three ballot papers next week, they will be helping to determine which party governs both South Africa and the province they live in for the next five years.

Political experts explain in simple terms how votes and counted and allocated.

“A successful party needs to secure the largest share of the votes. This percentage is then translated into a certain number of seats in the national and the provincial assemblies,” explains Dr Heather Thuynsma, a senior lecturer in political sciences at the University of Pretoria.

Under the law, you vote for a party, and the party determines its list of candidates, including how they are ranked on that list, says Thuynsma.

“Candidates are then appointed, per their position on the list, to the seats a party is allocated. The number of seats depends on the percentage of the vote the party earned.”

Prof Amanda Gouws, a distinguished professor in political science at Stellenbosch University, simplifies it even further.

“A party needs to get 50% plus one vote to give it a majority. It is as easy as that.”

She adds a lot depends on how a political party campaigns and which groups in society it mobilises to vote for it.

The IEC explains

For the first time, however, independent candidates, who are individuals not affiliated with a political party, will be standing in the elections, for seats in both the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. As a result, voters will be given three ballot papers: National, regional, and provincial ballots.

Mawethu Mosery, the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) deputy chief electoral officer, recently explained in an interview with Newzroom Afrika that the 400 seats in Parliament are divided into two parts:

1. 200 seats for national representation by political parties.
2. 200 seats for regional representation (contested by parties and independents). The regions geographically represent the nine provinces. Each region has a predetermined number of seats.

The current breakdown of the 200 regional seats, mentioned above:

For a detailed explanation of how the seat allocation works, click here.

Three ballots

On voting day, citizens will receive three ballot papers, each with a different function.

The IEC provided the following explanation on the three ballot papers:

1. The national ballot, which will consist of a list of political parties vying for 200 seats in the National Assembly. This ballot will be used to vote for political parties only. There are currently 52 parties that will be on this ballot.
2. The regional or province-to-national ballot, which will have political parties and independent candidates contesting for the seats reserved for each province in the National Assembly. Voters will use this ballot to elect a political party or an independent candidate to represent them in the National Assembly. The number of contestants ranges from 30 to 44 on regional ballots.
3. The provincial ballot, which is unique to each province and includes parties and independent candidates competing for seats in each respective provincial legislature. This ballot will allow voters to choose either a political party or an independent candidate to represent them in their respective provincial legislatures. The number of contestants ranges from 24 to 45.

Outcome of the election

According to the IEC, the final results and seat allocation for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures are announced by the commission within seven days of the election.

Anyone is allowed to object to the results of the election.

“The IEC investigates these objections and makes a decision. If anyone is not satisfied with that decision, they can take it to the Electoral Court, which can pass judgment on all election disputes.”