Pretoria - Election candidates who have not complied with the IEC's documentation requirements have until Friday, 8 April at 5pm to give the commission all outstanding paperwork.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) today reported that a total of 1 914 political parties and independent candidates intending to contest the 18 May municipal elections did not submit copies of their identity documents.
The IEC notified political parties and independent candidates of non-compliance regarding outstanding documents yesterday as required by the election timetable. Submission of candidates' lists closed on March 25 at 5pm.
According to the IEC, a further 1 501 candidates did not submit their acceptance of nomination, while 198 did not provide their identity document numbers.
Chief Electoral Officer, Adv Pansy Tlakula, said: "We have been busy capturing and verifying candidates' details on our systems after the closing on 25 March of the acceptance of party lists and nominations of candidates for the 2011 Municipal Elections at our local offices."
Tlakula said the names of a number of candidates and nominators do not appear on the voters' roll or on the required segment of the voters' roll.
As of 4 April, 55 684 candidates will contest this year's municipal elections. However, this figure is subject to compliance by those candidates who have been informed by the IEC of non-compliance.
Thirty-seven percent of the candidates are women, while 63 percent are men.
The 2006 municipal elections were contested by 36 475 candidates, with 20 679 participating in the 2000 municipal elections.
A total of 121 parties have notified the IEC of their intention to contest the 2011 municipal elections, with 28 political parties in the Eastern Cape, 18 in the Free State, 35 Gauteng, 28 Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo 21, Mpumalanga 20, North West 20, Northern Cape 10, while 61 political parties will contest the elections in the Western Cape.
However, Tlakula said some political parties will contest in more than one province.
Tlakula said she was satisfied with the organised manner in which most parties have submitted their lists. However, a few parties came late to the IEC's offices, despite widespread announcements made with regard to the cut-off date and time. They were subsequently turned down.
"The submission of candidates' lists is an important date on the election timetable and is seen as the start of the election period.
"The number of political parties and candidates who indicated their participation (also compared to previous municipal elections in 2006 and 2000), demonstrates that these elections have generated a lot of interest and are important to our communities," she said.
Tlakula expressed her gratitude to parties for cooperating with the IEC in the manner that they did and urged them to take their responsibilities in respect of the Electoral Code of Conduct seriously.
Parties who will contest more than two provinces in the elections have been invited to make public pledges to abide by the Electoral Code of Conduct.
The signing ceremony will take place at Gallagher Convention Centre on Wednesday, 13 April. On that occasion, the IEC will also hold a draw to determine the order in which the names of the parties will appear on the ballot paper.- BuaNews
