A hard-won way for citizens to give feedback

Every five years we the people get to say how we want to be governed, writes Zak Yacoob

LAST month, we talked about the preamble to our constitution and some general matters. The elections on May 7 this year make it appropriate to focus on the right to vote.

Section 19 (1) (d) of our constitution embraces universal adult voting, a single national common voters’ roll, regular elections and a multiparty system of democratic government “to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness”. Section 19 (3) gives to every adult citizen over 18 years the right to vote for any legislative body and to do so in secret, as well as to stand for and hold public office.

The right to vote is not unqualified. It is a right that can be limited in certain circumstances. Parliament has tried to limit the right to vote by saying that anyone in prison on voting day should not be allowed to vote. The Constitutional Court has found, however, that this law is not consistent with the constitution. So, for now, all prisoners are allowed to vote.

Every citizen can vote in national, provincial and local government elections. The elections this year are for the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures.

We do not, however, vote for the individual people we would like to represent us in the National Assembly and the provincial legislature. We vote for a party. It is possible to vote for a different party for the National Assembly and the provincial legislature.

It is the political party that decides the list of its members who will go to the National Assembly and the provincial legislature, in order of priority. Let me explain. The National Assembly has 400 seats. A political party that gets 60% of the vote will have 240 members in the assembly.

These members will be taken from the party list: the first 240 members on the list will serve in the assembly for five years.

It is important for us to look at these party lists before we decide whom we will vote for.

We might like the leader of a party, but we might not be happy with most of the other people on the party list. This means that you will need to consider carefully which party you wish to vote for and not go only by its leader.

Every citizen has the right to keep her or his vote secret at all times. No one can be forced to say who they are voting for and anyone can say “my vote is my secret”. However, any citizens who feel comfortable saying whom they vote for are free to do so, and they are free to try

The right to vote is not unqualified

to persuade other people to vote for the same party.

In fact, I would encourage all citizens to talk about their vote openly and freely if this will not mean harm to them. This creates the opportunity for open discussion and debate as well as a more thorough understanding of the voting process and landscape. An informed vote is a better vote.

The right to vote is an important way in which a government becomes accountable. Even if the party of your choice does not come to power, the fact that a political party got more votes this time round means that party has more support.

If the party with more votes has been in government, the larger vote means more people favoured the policies and actions of the government.

If the governing party loses votes, the future government will be given a message that more citizens have problems with the way in which it governed. The vote is therefore one way of giving feedback.

This is not the only way in which a citizen can contribute to changing the way a country is run.

All citizens have the right to join a political party of their choice, participate in its activities, recruit members and campaign for that party.

Citizens can, through exercising these rights, change a political party from inside or ensure that the political party they join gets more votes.

In this way, citizens have a better chance for the country to be ruled in the way in which they would like in the future.

The right to vote goes hand in hand with political party rights — they reinforce each other.

Yacoob is a former Constitutional Court justice. His column will appear during the run-up to the May 7 national elections