IEC hits back at AIC’s claims

In the wake of complaints by the African Independent Congress (AIC) regarding their position on the ballot papers for the upcoming 2019 elections, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has issued a statement in which they claim the AIC agreed to the process that saw them given their position on the ballot paper.

According to the IEC, all parties set to participate in the 8 May elections agreed to the process to determine the order of the national and provincial ballot papers.

The IEC is empowered by the Electoral Act, which gives them carpe diem on the design of the ballot paper.

“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,” reads the statement.

A random draw was initially used to determine the first party on the ballot paper, with all parties then following in alphabetical order.

This year, however, the IEC appointed the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct research to investigate key aspects of the usability of the ballot paper with a view to introducing enhancements to the design.

“The outcome of the research proposed certain areas of enhancement to improve the legibility of the ballot paper and to accentuate distinguishing features between and among political parties on the ballot. These have been incorporated into the ballot paper design for the 2019 National and Provincial Elections,” said the IEC.

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The research also established that there was potential for confusion among voters as a result of some party identifiers that use similar colours, abbreviations and logos – which is the case with the ANC and AIC.

“A specific recommendation was that parties that may cause confusion to the voter ought to be separated on the ballot paper. These findings and the proposed solution were shared and discussed with all parties in the National Party Liaison Committee. The proposed solution was to retain the random draw for the first party on the ballot paper and thereafter follow the alphabetical order of parties, as determined by the party at the top of the ballot,” added the IEC.

In addition to the first random draw, it was decided that another random draw would be conducted to help separate parties that may cause confusion to the voter. According to the IEC, all parties represented at the NPLC endorsed and supported the proposals.

As such, two random draws were conducted during the code of conduct signing ceremony held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on 20 March.

The first draw was to separate parties that were consecutive in alphabetical order and which had certain similarities in their acronyms and logos, namely the African Independent Congress (AIC), African National Congress (ANC) and African People’s Convention (APC).

As agreed with the representatives of the parties, the party drawing the highest number would feature in its usual place on the ballot paper in terms of alphabetical order.

The party drawing the smallest number would drop to the end of the sequence of political parties, starting with the letter “A” on the ballot paper.

The party drawing the second-highest number would lose its usual position in the alphabetical order and be inserted in the middle of the alphabetical sequence of parties starting with the letter “A”.

Immediately prior to this draw, the process was again discussed and agreed with the three parties concerned who participated in the draw.

During the draw, the African Independent Congress (AIC) drew the highest number and therefore retained its alphabetical position on the ballot paper (between the African Democratic Change and African Renaissance Unity parties).

The African People’s Convention (APC) drew the smallest number, which meant it moved to the end of those parties starting with the letter “A” on the ballot paper.

The African National Congress (ANC) drew the second-highest number and therefore lost its position in the alphabetical order and was placed in the middle of the list of parties starting with the letter “A”.

A second draw then followed to select the party to top the ballot paper. This was won by the African Security Congress (ASC).

Despite the aforementioned process and the AIC’s alleged agreement, the party insists that they were not listed where they should be and, as a result, threatened to take action against the commission based on an image of the 2019 ballot currently in circulation.

The IEC had earlier already explained that the specimen ballot the IEC was talking about was fake.

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