Local government elections: Two ballot papers in metros and three in local municipalities

In the upcoming local government elections, voters in South African metros will receive two ballots. The first ballot is grey and white, featuring the ward candidate contested by political parties and independent candidates. The second ballot is green, focusing on proportional representation (PR) votes for the political parties competing in the metro.

Local municipality voters, on the other hand, will receive three ballot papers. The grey and white paper is for the ward councillor contesting in their specific ward. The second paper, also green, is reserved for the PR vote, contested solely by political parties seeking seats in that particular local municipality. The third ballot paper, yellow in color, is a district PR ballot for the district municipality.

According to Jerry Ramatlhodi, a national assistant manager at the Electoral Commission of South Africa, 40% of the district PR candidates will be voted for on the yellow district PR ballot within the local municipality.

To ensure proper voter identification, all voters without an address on the voters' roll must provide an address. This information helps the Electoral Commission determine which ballots voters are eligible for. In areas with more than 48 candidates, double column ballots may be introduced. Each voter will now receive a unique sequence number, which will aid in quickly locating their name on the voters' roll and prevent errors when marking the wrong voter's name in areas with common names.

The sequence number is provided upon checking a voter's registration status via SMS or at the voting station during election day. Voters who haven't obtained their sequence number should not worry, as there will be a Voter Management Device (VMD) at the voting station to assist in finding the voter's details. Voters must only cast their ballots at the designated voting station where they are registered.

To find their specific voting station and voters' roll sequence number, voters can send a WhatsApp message to the IEC at 0600-88-0000, send an SMS with their ID number to 32810 (at R1 per SMS), or call 0800-11-8000. The reply will contain the voter's voting station, voters' roll sequence number, and other necessary information to expedite the voting process.