UCLG

UCLG REITERATES IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL ELECTIONS

Having gleaned knowledge from members that have held elections during the crisis, the United Cities Local Governments is now sharing this with SALGA via informal information exchanges. By Rodney Weidemann Rodney Weidemann

The COVID-19 pandemic has created trying times for local governments globally, which are exacerbated when trying to conduct elections under these conditions. Local elections are operationally more challenging and complex conditions. Local elections are operationally more challenging and complex than national and provincial elections. In SA’s national and provincial elections, there are 10 elections in total. In the 2021 local elections, there will be 4 725 unique elections, comprising 4 468 ward elections, 8 metropolitan council elections, 205 local council elections and 44 district council elections.

As a stakeholder in the United Cities Local Governments (UCLG) global network, SALGA might well be expected to ask the global body for advice and best practice regarding the holding of these elections under such trying circumstances.

According to UCLG secretary-general Elisabeth Silva, the organisation has been trying to share the information it has on how elections have been undertaken in other countries. This has been done mostly by peer reviews and informal information exchanges.

“While this data addresses the pandemic in general, and there have been informal bilateral conversations around the organising of elections in di erent countries, we are bilateral conversations around the organising of elections in di erent countries, we are not able to o er any instructional dialogue relating to this subject,” she says. She adds not able to o er any instructional dialogue relating to this subject,” she says. She adds that in most countries, elections are organised by the national authorities and the UCLG that in most countries, elections are organised by the national authorities and the UCLG doesn’t have the right competencies to be involved in election organisation.

“We don’t have documented practices on a matter like this. Although we are aware of places where elections have taken place during the pandemic, the best we can do is share knowledge gleaned from members who have already undertaken voting in the current circumstances. For example, places like Chile have been through what South Africa is currently planning for, so their experiences are worth sharing.”

In the end, she notes, it is the view of the UCLG that democracy needs to prevail, so ideally elections should take place when scheduled.

PLANNED INNOVATIONS

The UCLG has indicated that any new technology being implemented to help with voting needs to be properly checked to ensure it is appropriate, safe and operates properly. The South African government website has listed several key innovations planned for the local government elections in 2021. New voter management devices will replace the zip-zip hand-held scanners. This will allow for enhanced voter registration and monitoring of voter participation in real-time.

The technology will be able to capture a place of residence during registration and verify the address against ward boundaries, also serving as an online real-time voters’ roll, to help prevent multiple votes by a single individual. Other improvements include a revamped public website and app for improved navigation and communications, a public reporting app for disinformation on social media and the introduction of e-learning modules for training of election sta .

Strengthening the UCLG Network

HEALTH CONCERNS THE BIGGEST FACTOR

“We are strongly in favour of holding elections within the designated timeframe of the speci c country’s constitution. However, it is critical for the national authorities and medical professionals to consider the realities.”

Ultimately, the nal decision should be based on medical and health grounds – democratic guarantees should always prevail, but only on condition that the medical people deem it safe for people to vote. If the government does not feel that voting can be undertaken in a safe manner that will guarantee signi cant public participation, then it may be better to postpone things.

“Recent experiences elsewhere have demonstrated that it is possible to hold elections, even in a pandemic, and to do so safely. We remain of the opinion that the best measures that can be widely and easily implemented to keep elections as safe as possible remain the three golden rules of COVID-19: regular sanitising of hands and surfaces, proper hygiene protocols and e ective social distancing,” concludes Silva. ▪