The lists of candidates for each political party contesting the upcoming elections (national, regional and provincial) will be available for inspection from 28 March 2014.
The lists of candidates for each political party contesting the upcoming elections (national, regional and provincial) will be available for inspection from 28 March 2014.
A record number of political parties are set to contest the national and provincial elections on 7 May 2014, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said in a statement..
Thirty-three political parties have indicated their intention to contest the election of the National Assembly, following Wednesday’s deadline for paying deposits and submitting candidate lists.
Four parties are yet to fully comply with prescribed deposits, however, and may be ruled out before the election, said the IEC.
According to legislation and the election timetable, parties have until 24 March to submit any outstanding requirements.
The IEC said that in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, there were 19 parties on the national ballot paper.
In 2004 there were 21.
Even if the four parties which still have to comply with the nomination requirements were to be excluded, the ballot paper will still contain a record 29 contesting parties, the IEC said.
In terms of the provincial elections, the Western Cape will be the most contested province, with 26 parties submitting lists (up from 22 in 2009). This is followed by Gauteng, with 22 parties having submitted lists (up from 20 in 2009), Limpopo with 20 (18 in 2009), the Eastern Cape with 18 (17 in 2009) and KwaZulu-Natal with 18 (17 in 2009), Free State with 17 (14 in 2009) and then Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape and North West with 16 parties each (respectively 15, 13, 16 in 2009).
Any objection to candidates must be submitted to the IEC's head office in Centurion, in writing, before 5pm on Tuesday 1 April 2014.
Such objections must indicate the reason for the objection to a candidate, and must show that a copy of the objection has also been lodged with the relevant political party, said the IEC.
The Commission will rule on objections by Monday 7 April 2014. Any appeals to the rulings must be submitted to the Electoral Court by 10 April 2014.
The final deadline for Electoral Court decisions is 15 April 2014. The final list of candidates contesting the elections will be published on 22 April. Certificates will be issued to candidates by 24 April, said the IEC.
