GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - With political parties raring and ready to go for next week's local government elections, voters may feel the need to familiarise themselves with one or two details before they make their mark.
Between Knysna and Bitou municipalities, there will be a total of 26 political parties competing within their wards in this year's local government elections.
There will be eight competing in Knysna alone, while there will be six competing in Bitou alone, and there will be a total of 12 that will be contesting the elections in both municipalities. Knysna will see two independent candidates standing for election, in Wards 3 and 4 respectively, but Bitou will have no independent candidates as was the case in 2016.
In Knysna the number of parties contesting this year's local government elections exceeds the number of parties that contested either the 2011 or the 2016 elections, and with 20 parties competing in Knysna this year, it doubles the number that competed in 2011. Bitou has 18 parties contesting in its wards this year, equal to the number in 2016 but more than in 2011.
The elections are of course around the corner now, with Election Day looming on Monday 1 November. Voters will receive three ballot papers when it comes time to cast their votes.
One will be to elect the candidate they wish to be the councillor that represents their ward in the town's council; one will be to elect a party for proportional representation (PR) of the ward in council; and one to cast their PR vote for the Garden Route District Municipality.
Voting stations are scattered all around the various municipalities. Knysna has 30 voting districts and voting stations within its 11 wards, while Bitou has 16 voting districts and voting stations within its seven wards. If you would like to find out at which voting station you are registered and thus where you need to cast your vote, you can use the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) online voting station finder – https://maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder/.
If you would like to familiarise yourself with the various ballots that will be presented to you on Election Day, you can also visit the IEC's website and under the 'Know your ballots' section you'll be able to have a look at choices you will be presented with.
Further than that, any other information you might need can be found on the IEC's website, so be sure when you approach your voting booth on Election Day that you know where to make your mark.
Voters will need to bring their identity documents (green bar-coded ID book or smart card), a mask, and their good spirits. All voting stations will be open from 07:00 until 21:00. We hope to see you there!
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
