IEC worried over declining voter turnout ahead of 2024 elections

Preparations for the 2024 general election are in full swing and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is concerned about voter turnout due to a downward trend.

In an interview with The Citizen, the commission also revealed that a double-column ballot paper would be used this time – to accommodate the 350 political parties that will contest the election.

IEC deputy chief electoral officer: electoral matters, Masego Sheburi, said the downward voter turnout trend was a source of worry, but they were hoping for improvement in the upcoming polls – as a result of voter education and voter registration.

The turnouts had fluctuated, with a marked drop to 46% in the 2021 local government elections. The turnout was 54% in the 2016 with an increase to 57% in 2019.

“It is in our interest that the voter turnout should remain high,” said Sheburi, adding that they are finalising recruitment and training of personnel to work at the 23 300 voting stations.

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He said the staff will be assessed for suitability in order to not compromise the commission’s work. The lists of the staff will be sent to political parties, who can lodge objections in a minimum of two weeks.

The objections, Sheburi said, should be only on the basis of political partisanship, including the high-profile political status of the staff member or whether they held an elected political office.

The IEC would also check their identity numbers against names of candidates who participated in previous elections.

Sheburi said the participation of independent candidates will affect the magnitude of the IEC’s work.

However, it has done its best to accommodate the changes.

A total of 550 political parties are registered at national, provincial and local levels and some are only contesting at particular levels.

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And the registration process remained open for more parties to register. Sheburi said there were likely to be three ballot papers instead of the usual two.

One paper would be for national with political parties, the second for regions with political parties and independent candidates, and the third would be for the provincial legislatures.

He said, unlike in the past, the ballot papers are expected to have two columns to accommodate political parties and independents.

The double-column could affect both the national and regional levels.

Next month the IEC will advertise for the new format ballot papers to be printed with the changes in place.