5 ms·

After reading up about how SA elections work, I'm a bit confused. It sounds like when you vote you order a set of parties by preference and then PR is used to f

by onei 6y ago

After reading up about how SA elections work, I'm a bit confused. It sounds like when you vote you order a set of parties by preference and then PR is used to figure out who won a given area. Once you win that area, the party nominates a set of candidates to represent that area, but this set isn't known at voting time and the order the candidates are chosen is somewhat arbitrary. There's also a case where control of an area is shared, but I'm not entirely sure how that works in the context of PR. Is that roughly correct, or have I missed something? Initially, it sounded like it had corruption potential built in, but in reality it's not that dissimilar to UK elections. Candidates are selected by their party and we vote for whoever we're given. The difference is that we know who might be elected ahead of time and debates can focus on personal records as well as party agenda.

nevi-me 6y ago
> Is that roughly correct, or have I missed something? There's 2 systems. The one you mention is municipal (lowest level), and then there's a purely political-party based one. Municipal A ward can elect a political party member, or an independent candidate. The elected candidate who wins, gets a seat in council. > Once you win that area, the party nominates a set of candidates to represent that area, but this set isn't known at voting time and the order the candidates are chosen is somewhat arbitrary. Parties also send a candidate-list to the elections body, before the elections. 50% of the council seats are determined by apportioning within these lists. This is meant to be fairer on smaller parties who might otherwise not get enough votes to get a councillor in. The system is accepted (opinion), and doesn't seem arbitrary as there's rules that allow independent verification. Provincial and National These are purely party-list based (perhaps similar to UK then), instead of the 50% split above. Similarly, party lists are known before the elections, and are immutable throughout the 5 years (only get removed if you die or resign from your party, but can't be moved up or down). There's again some process to determine how many people on the list per party, go to Parliament and the provincial equivalents. So, to your last point; we also know whom we're getting before the elections. There was a Constitution (supreme) Court ruling last year that requires the next national elections to allow for independent candidates. The sentiment from those interested in our polls, is that the same hybrid municipal system might get chosen.
- cabalamat 6y ago
  > Parties also send a candidate-list to the elections body, before the elections. 50% of the council seats are determined by apportioning within these lists. This is meant to be fairer on smaller parties who might otherwise not get enough votes to get a councillor in. This sounds very similar to the AMS system used in Scotland and Germany.

by onei 6y ago

nevi-me 6y ago

> Is that roughly correct, or have I missed something? There's 2 systems. The one you mention is municipal (lowest level), and then there's a purely political-party based one. Municipal A ward can elect a political party member, or an independent candidate. The elected candidate who wins, gets a seat in council. > Once you win that area, the party nominates a set of candidates to represent that area, but this set isn't known at voting time and the order the candidates are chosen is somewhat arbitrary. Parties also send a candidate-list to the elections body, before the elections. 50% of the council seats are determined by apportioning within these lists. This is meant to be fairer on smaller parties who might otherwise not get enough votes to get a councillor in. The system is accepted (opinion), and doesn't seem arbitrary as there's rules that allow independent verification. Provincial and National These are purely party-list based (perhaps similar to UK then), instead of the 50% split above. Similarly, party lists are known before the elections, and are immutable throughout the 5 years (only get removed if you die or resign from your party, but can't be moved up or down). There's again some process to determine how many people on the list per party, go to Parliament and the provincial equivalents. So, to your last point; we also know whom we're getting before the elections. There was a Constitution (supreme) Court ruling last year that requires the next national elections to allow for independent candidates. The sentiment from those interested in our polls, is that the same hybrid municipal system might get chosen.

cabalamat 6y ago
> Parties also send a candidate-list to the elections body, before the elections. 50% of the council seats are determined by apportioning within these lists. This is meant to be fairer on smaller parties who might otherwise not get enough votes to get a councillor in. This sounds very similar to the AMS system used in Scotland and Germany.