LSSA to launch election observer team to observe the national elections

April 1st, 2014
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By Barbara Whittle

Some 500 attorneys and candidate attorneys have made themselves available as volunteer observers for the national elections on 7 May. The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) registered as an observer body for the national elections and invited attorneys and candidate attorneys to join the LSSA observer team.

In terms of its election manifesto, the LSSA indicated its support for the national elections in the spirit of the founding values of the Constitution, which espouse the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, as well as universal suffrage, a national common voters’ roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.

The LSSA believes that independent legal practitioners will ‘serve as the eyes and ears of citizens’ by observing the voting and counting processes, as well as being present at the national results centre. LSSA observers will report their findings and the LSSA will draft a report to the Independent Electoral Commission.

Observers will receive a full-day training workshop provided free of charge by the LSSA, with the support of LexisNexis, to equip them to assess the electoral process with a particular emphasis on compliance with regulations, laws, procedures and codes of conduct. They will also be able to evaluate the participation of citizens and their understanding of the processes. This will contribute to ensuring free and fair elections.

  • Further information on the LSSA election monitoring project can be accessed on the LSSA website at www.LSSA.org.za

Compiled by Barbara Whittle, communication manager, Law Society of South Africa, barbara@lssa.org.za

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2014 (April) DR 16.

 

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