Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, an independent body established by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. They ensure that the voting process is fair and that no one interferes.
They have very specific rules that all of the political parties must obey in order to be in the election. The rules are called the Code of Conduct. As soon as an election date has been set, all participating Political Parties have to agree to the Code of Conduct.
Parties and candidates must:
Speak out against political violence and threats against other parties, the Electoral Commission, members of the public and the media;
Let the authorities know about planned marches or rallies;
Communicate with other political parties about planned political events;
Recognise the authority of the Electoral Commission;
Work with the Electoral Commission structures and allow them to perform their duties;
Work with the police in their investigation of election crime and violence;
Accept the results of the election or challenge the result in court.
The Electoral Code of Conduct, contained in the Electoral Act, also details a list of prohibited conduct including:
Using language which provokes violence;
Intimidation of candidates or voters;
Publishing false information about other candidates or parties;
Destroying, removing or defacing posters of other parties;
Carrying arms or weapons at political meetings, marches or rallies;
Bribing voters to vote or not vote;
Generally abusing a position of power, privilege or influence to influence the outcome of an election.
What role does the VOTER play in keeping the elections fair?
Report fake news relating to political parties (we call this misinformation).
At the voting station, you should make a complaint if you see another voter has been given more than one ballot paper or if someone has been refused a ballot paper.
If a voting officer (someone in charge at your voting station, who works for the IEC) is demonstrating unethical behaviour.
This information come from https://www.elections.org.za/ which is the ICE official website.
COMPULSORY ACTIVITY
Please go to GOOGLE CLASSROOM and locate the Quiz called Gr 6. Topic 6. National Voting & The Ethics of Voting.