Deputy Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), Masego Sheburi, says they will print 90 million ballot papers for the elections.
Sheburi said 30 million ballot papers were for the provincial legislatures, another 30 million for regional seats in the National Assembly, and the remaining 30 million for the national-to-national list.
The IEC also said on Friday it will inform political parties if there were candidates who appeared on the lists of other parties.
The commission will also talk to Eskom to establish if there will be load shedding on voting day. However, the commission will have contingency measures in place, including procuring other sources of energy as backup.
Sheburi and senior officials of the IEC were briefing the portfolio committee on home affairs on Tuesday about their state of readiness for the elections.
He said they have been making preparations for the last few months, but this was the last part of preparations before the polls on May 29.
“The next milestone on the timetable is March 26 and 27. On those two dates, the commission will unseal the lists of candidates in terms of Section 27 and Section 31 in respect of independent candidates. We will unseal the lists of candidates to enable inspection and objection. The commission will take decisions on those objections by March 28,” said Sheburi.
“[Thereafter,] the next key milestone will be on April 10, when the commission will release the lists of parties and candidates that have complied with the requirements to contest this election,” said Sheburi.
He added that on April 4, they will conduct a draw on the ballot paper to determine which party will be on top of the ballot paper.
Politics
