Cape Town – At the moment more than 100 political parties are registered to take part in the general elections this year, making it the province with the highest number of registered parties.
Whether this will be the final tally is a moot point as parties wishing to contest on a national level have to pay a deposit of R200 000 and those on a provincial level R45 000. There are 600 parties registered nationally.
The provincial election launch took place in Cape Town today and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Western Cape says it is ready to host the final voter registration weekend next week, the SABC reported. According to the IEC, more than 3 million people are registered to vote in the province.
The deposit amounts are the same as those used in the 2014 national and provincial elections. The practice of prescribing election deposits has been part of the electoral process since 1994.
Parties which fail to secure a seat in the National Assembly or provincial legislature forfeit their deposit to the National Revenue Fund.