Deceased candidates names to appear on election ballots
With local government elections just two days away, some voters in KwaZulu-Natal may be surprised to discover the names of 13 deceased candidates on their official ballot papers.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission, the 13 ANC candidates - who were murdered in alleged politically-motivated killings in the province this year - were not removed from ballots as it was too late for any official changes to be made.
The Local Government Municipal Electoral Act provides that if a ward candidate is deceased at the time of an election‚ then his or her name will remain on the ballot paper, and voters may or may not vote for them.
However, in the case of a candidate winning posthumously, a by-election would then be held.
More than 74 million ballots, amassing more than 600 tonnes of paper, have been printed ahead of Wednesday’s municipal elections. An estimated 7 million of these ballots have been allocated for voters in KwaZulu-Natal.