The Electoral Commission (IEC) has come out defending its stance on the recent changes to the ballot paper for the upcoming 2019 National and Provincial Election.
Following a formal complaint by the African Independence Congress (AIC) , the IEC has clarified the matter saying “The Electoral Act empowers the Commission to determine the design of the ballot paper to be used in an election. The preeminent consideration of the Commission in designing the ballot paper is to enable easy identification of the party of choice by the voter, to facilitate the selection of that party with confidence and to minimise risks of miscast ballots.”
In its efforts to improve the identification of political parties on the paper, the IEC appointed the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct research on ways to improve the usability of the ballot paper. Some of the findings from the research have helped the IEC to revise the ballot paper with the following enhancements, including a re-ordering of the sequence of party identifiers on the ballot paper as follows:
- Full party name
- Party leader photograph
- Abbreviation
- Party logo
The research also found that some similarities in some party’s names, colours, abbreviations and logos could cause confusion on the voter, and recommended that such parties ought to be separated on the ballot paper.
This then prompted the decision to conduct a draw to determine where the African Security Congress (ASC), African National Congress (ANC) and African Independent Congress (AIC) would appear on the ballot paper. Results from the draw placed the ASP at the top, with the ANC retaining its position and the AIC being moved to the bottom of the ballot paper.
Below is a sample of the ballot paper for the upcoming 2019 elections:
