Elections in South Africa

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Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, National Council of Provinces, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow every 2 to 3 years with General Elections and Municipal Elections (Municipal Elections are not elections for the National Assembly). The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation, which means that parties are represented in proportion to their electoral support. For municipal councils there is a mixed-member system in which wards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists.

In elections of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, every South African citizen who is 18 or older may vote they must first be registered with the Independent Electoral Commission IEC and have an ID book or card, including (since the 2014 election) those resident outside South Africa. In elections of a provincial legislature or municipal council, only those resident within the province or municipality may vote. All elections are conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, which is an independent body established by the Constitution.