Independent candidates capable of bringing change
2 May 2024
The May 29th general elections not only presents a change in our electoral democracy but many new options for voters as well. For the first time in 30 years, voters will have the option to vote directly for individuals who will feature as independent candidates on both the regional and provincial ballot.
The introduction of independent candidates will also see a change to the voting process with the addition of a new ballot called the regional or province-to-national ballot where both independents and political parties will compete for the 200 seats in the national assembly. The existing provincial ballot will also be contested by independents and political parties for the seats in the provincial legislatures, while the national ballot will only feature political parties as in the past.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates will be contesting for the seats in both the national assembly and provincial legislatures.
The 400 seats in the national assembly, which previously were only contested by political parties, have now been split into two, the regional list seats and the national list seats. Political parties are able to contest all 400 seats as they are listed on both the regional and national ballot while independents will only contest for the 200 regional seats.