Understanding Postponement of Elections in a Constitutional Democracy
Abatsha Force of Change (AFC) movement, a non-profit organization in South Africa, aims to empower African youth for social change. With a focus on democracy and constitutional rights, the movement discusses the legal implications of election postponements within the country's governance framework. Evaluating the constitutional requirements for free and fair elections, the content explores the potential impact on democratic processes and citizen participation.
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ABATSHA FORCE OF CHANGE: LOGO ELECTION POSTPONED IS DEMOCRACY DENIED
Who is Abatsha Force of Change Abatsha Force of Change (AFC) movement is a non-profit and non-governmental organization born out the intergenerational pain of dehumanization of Africans. It was established in order to confront and find creative black-African youth driven solutions for their challenges and lead the process of solving their problems. It was established in 2015. AFC is a youth organization driven by social change under the banner say yes to a winning generation and a platform to ignite fearless voices for African Identity. Our vision is to build an independent effective movement of young people. AFC aims to mobilize, empower and conscientise the youth of South Africa at large. Through our programs we cultivate vibrant communities that support, guide and strengthen participation in developing a disciplined, dedicated and determined youth for a brighter future.
LEGAL In light of the fact that we are a constitutional democratic country it is important that we thoroughly evaluate what the constitution entails. The constitution regulates elections to be every five years with 90 days from the expiry of the term. The word term simply means those voted to power have five years to lead those who voted for them. It will therefore be pure dictatorship to impose leaders upon those who vote The constitution also demands that elections should be Free and Fair. We will argue and prove that in actual fact this tight condition that we are in may actually offer us the most free and fair elections.
LEGAL In attempting to interpret the constitution and request for postponement may have two suggestions: First that the matter goes to court which may have three possible judgement: Yes postpone, no don t postpone or just follow the commission s recommendations because it did a thorough consultation from the public already Secondly the matter may require constitutional amendment which again will be an exercise that requires public consultation and this means that we are further delaying democracy and election processes
POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTIONS BEFORE VS LEGAL The fact that elections have been postponed before questions the conditions and process followed It should first be clear that by-local elections Vs Local Government elections happen under different circumstances. Local Government Election is an exercise that IEC must always be ready for with clear timetable and prepare for it on time By-Elections is an unforeseen circumstance that may even happen within two years of the term thus it does not even affect the regulation of the constitution.
ELECTION PARTICIPATION DURING COVID USING 2020/2021 ELECTION : It is a known fact that Covid affects voter turn out. But when we look at the voter turn out in some by-elections the difference was not far fetched. IEC also provided strict health protocols that appear to have been followed since there were no new outbreaks.
Two components of the cost of voting: COST TO PREPARE VOTING DECISION COST WITH ACTION OF VOTING Firstly, it is the cost borne by people to prepare their voting decisions, such as the amount of time and resources used to collect information about the candidates, their programs, and the main election issues. TIME: time is costs to go to VD and time spent in a queue to vote Transport costs which normally affects the elders Day of the week Voting technology and voting processes
Recommendations to the two components of the cost of voting: Cost to prepare voting decision Cost with action of voting TIME: It s the responsibility of the IEC to ensure that proximity is key for all voters. IEC has proven to have done this by increasing VD s by over 200. Transport costs: we encourage the elders and those with disabilities and chronic diseases to register for special voting to reduce not just transport costs but also decrease contraction probability of Covid 19 Day of the week: 27 October Wednesday is perfect day especially for young it s a day they recoup no excuses of hangover, even companies can attest to this. The IEC had already declared their readiness in terms of Voting technology and voting processes The public broadcaster in association with the government must create a channel similar to Idols and parliament channel that will strictly focus on elections and give a platform to all candidates. This can also be done in collaboration with local radio stations and local TV shows. Public facilities such as community Centre's and libraries must be available to all candidates to serve as their information desk for voters
Lesson from other countries At the start of the pandemic, many countries postponed elections. From June 2020, the trend shifted to holding elections. Thanks to information sharing and peer-to-peer exchanges, election authorities gained an understanding of the risks and prevention/mitigation measures. To date, more than 100 countries and territories have held national or subnational elections that were either on schedule or initially postponed with health and safety measures. But what measures have been introduced so far? What measures have been adopted by countries that have held elections? Are the measures respected by stakeholders? Was voting safe?
Lesson from other countries We find the answer to this question using two references Firstly that other countries adhered to strict Covid 19 regulations: One of the first steps that EMBs or state institutions took to limit infection risk, often in collaboration with health ministries, was to introduce health and safety guidelines for the election. The guidelines typically focused on the voting operations or the entire electoral cycle (nomination processes, training, voter registration, campaigning, voting operations, set-up of polling stations, counting and tabulation, result announcements). Secondly from 2020/2021 Bi-elections. IEC proved its readiness by ensuring that By-elections during Covid were successfully held. It is also evident that health and safety guidelines were followed as there were no new infections reported of the virus.
Lesson from other countries We can also not turn a blind eye to the fact that in some countries the voter turn out was very poor for many reasons with a highlight of fear of contracting the disease.
Continuation * We can also not turn a blind eye to the fact that in some countries the voter turn out was very poor for many reasons with a highlight of fear of contracting the disease. RECOMMENDATION Voter education must go hand in hand with health education Vaccination Roll out speed should increase together with indigenous ways of staying healthy and safe, because we cant just be obsessed with external vaccines when we have indigenous ways of staying health and they proved to be effective. Those really scared must consider special vote registration
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections It is important for us to highlight that local elections are about community activism and less about political parties. The miseducation from our young age to automatically think Political parties at the mention of the word election must come to an end. Every community normally has an individual/s that we go to when experiencing problems and it is sad that when we vote we do not then vote for those people but instead for a party. So if you vote for a party It means that party must be available for your challenges. So when we speak of Free elections we agree that candidates must have access to their voters for information sharing but we also argue that information sharing can be done in various innovative ways including door to door .
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections The notion that door to door is not possible is not true, because the Covid 19 regulations does not stop us from visiting each other. The argument of difficulty to campaign because of public meeting is also not sufficient for two reasons: Firstly we were between level 1 and 3 for quite some time now and there Parties had enough time to elect their candidate using their internal process and to hold public meetings. We even saw some parties having public rallies and protests during those Levels. Like we said above, this tight situation will give us real free & fair elections because it will reduce populism which creates illusion, propaganda and deceives decision making and instead increase content sharing for an informed decision which is the true purpose of elections.
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections Fairness should be applicable both to candidate and the voter just like Freeness. And the question then is: is it Fair to the voter to postpone elections when ongoing corruption in municipalities proven by the Auditor is ongoing? Is it Fair to the voter to postpone elections when they sleep hungry yet Food parcels are passing their doors and Covid 19 relief funds gets looted Is it fair for the voter to die with fear of Covid 19 yet already survived the pandemic of poverty through hope and resilience. The most Fair thing is not to say elections should be postpone in consideration of the poor because they suffer the most during this pandemic, but to offer meaningful health protocols to allow them to go and vote for change of their situations. These elections will be the most fair because they have revealed the kind of leadership we have and now they will allow us to judge them through votes
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections But fairness also requires IEC to bring their offices to townships so that we can do walk in s for voter registration and not just rely on a one weekend. IEC must continue to partner with Civic organizations like they did with Abatsha Force of Change 2019 to increase voter education, but also make more use of social media platforms where young people are. IEC must partner with department of education to do voter education as a curriculum but further allow voter registration to take place in schools and higher learning institutions cause that is where all young people are. Fairness is hiring new fresh/young presiding officers and not recycle old officers loyal to parties whom under their watch we had unfair elections due to rigging of votes and dysfunctional machines that made people vote twice
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections Unfairness is when parties argue to hold on to power when their term is over. Fairness is when parties together with citizens and all stakeholders combine heads in seeking for a best way to have these local elections as scheduled or no later than 2021 if it may be the case. IEC keeps declaring that they are ready because they prepared anyway under tough conditions and that is true leadership The third wave was predicted last year already and vaccination roll out delayed, but whether or not for sound reason, alternative should have been put to place and chances are we do have a solution here in Africa but we are just blocked by our obsession to receive vaccines from the outside world.
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections The constitution indeed does not stipulate how campaigning should look like but the electoral act that speaks to behavior has for many years not been followed. Hence we maintain that fairness will display itself under Covid 19 because people will not be canvassed as they walk in to stations and end up making impulsive instead of informed decision. The style of Political parties to be at the gates of VD s singing and insulting others is not just unfair on its own which is something we have been highlighting but it makes voters to feel intimidated and therefore end up not voting freely. We also happy that the IEC said it will make Voter s Roll available for inspection, because again its unfair that people who are deceased are still in the voters roll.
Recommendations to Free & Fair Elections IEC has declared that in consultation with political parties it is looking at amending electoral act. The IEC must further engage other relevant stakeholders/ Public because not all of us belong to political parties
FOOD FOR THOUGHT POLITICIANS 4THIR CORRUPTION Given that the whole world is moving fast in Technology and we are heading to 4th industrial revolution, are we not suppose to also get to electronic voting IS IT CORRECT FOR POLITICIANS TO WANT TO POSTPONE ELECTIONS WITHOUT ASKING THOSE WHO VOTED FOR THEM WHEN KNOWING WELL THEIR TERM IS OVER. Where did the money go i.e - Covid Relief Fund - Covid Solidarity Fund - Food Parcels - Vaccines: Is it true that IEC is ready for Electronic voting, and if yes what could be the stumbling block to implementation Are Politicians honest when they say postponement is for health and safety measures yet they hold rallies with lot of people Does postponement of elections not condone the above mentioned?
Thank You We maintain that 2021 local elections in the mist of the pandemic will not only enshrine the values of our constitution but most importantly will be the Most Free and Fair elections if all Strict health protocols are adhered to by IEC, Candidates and the Public. By Abatsha Force of Change: Fearless Voices For African Identity
