THE 3 BALLOTS IN SOUTH AFRICA'S 2026 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
BY: CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS | ONLINE EDITOR
🇿🇦 THE 3 BALLOTS IN SOUTH AFRICA'S 2026 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
The important point is that not every voter receives three ballots.
The number of ballots depends on the type of municipality. In a local municipality, voters receive three ballots. In a metropolitan municipality such as the City of Johannesburg, voters receive two ballots. The IEC confirms that the 2026 municipal elections use these different election types. �
Elections South Africa +1
🗳️ THE 3 BALLOTS — LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
Ballot
What you vote for ?
Who you vote for ?
⚪ 1. Ward Ballot
A person/candidate
🟡 2. Local PR Ballot
Local Municipal Council
A Political Party
🟢 3. District PR Ballot
District Municipal Council
A Political Party
1️⃣ WARD BALLOT — THE PERSON
This is the ballot where you choose one ward councillor to represent your particular ward.
You vote for a candidate's name, rather than simply choosing a party.
The candidate may be:
a political-party candidate; or
an independent ward candidate.
The candidate who wins the ward election becomes the Ward Councillor for that Ward.
Example:
Ward 116
☑ Candidate A
☐ Candidate B
☐ Candidate C
Your vote goes toward determining who wins that Ward.
2️⃣ YELLOW BALLOT — LOCAL PR
The second ballot is the Proportional Representation (PR) ballot for the Local Municipal Council.
Here you vote for a political party, not an individual ward candidate.
The seats are allocated to parties according to their proportion of the PR vote.
For example:
🟡 ANC
🟡 DA
🟡 EFF
🟡 ACDP
🟡 Other parties
A party's PR vote therefore helps determine how many councillors that party receives on the local council. �
Elections South Africa
3️⃣ GREEN BALLOT — DISTRICT PR
The third ballot is for the District Municipality.
Again, you vote for a political party.
This ballot determines proportional representation on the District Council.
The IEC describes the three elections in a local municipality as:
Local Council Ward
Local Council PR
District Council PR.
⚠️ BUT THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR JOHANNESBURG
If you are talking specifically about the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, you will NOT receive three ballots.
You receive TWO ballots:
🟡 Ballot 1 — Metropolitan PR
Vote for a Political Party to represent you in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council.
⚪ Ballot 2 — Ward
Vote for the Ward Councillor for your Ward.
The IEC's municipal election guidance specifically states that metropolitan municipalities have two ballots: a Metropolitan Ward Ballot and a Metropolitan PR Ballot.
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG — SIMPLE EXAMPLE
If you live in Johannesburg Metro, your voting process is essentially:
BALLOT 1 — WARD
👉 Choose one Ward Candidate
⬇️
BALLOT 2 — PR
👉 Choose one Political Party
So, if you vote for a candidate from Party A on the Ward Ballot, you can still vote for Party B on the PR ballot.
The two votes serve different purposes.
In other words:
WARD VOTE = WHO represents your Ward
PR VOTE = HOW MANY seats each Political Party gets according to its share of the votes
🏛️ Why this matters for a Candidate
For someone contesting a Johannesburg Ward, the candidate is fighting for the ward vote. A candidate does not become a Ward Councillor simply because their Political Party gets a large PR vote.
For a PR candidate, however, the candidate's position is connected to the party's PR list and the number of Seats the party obtains.
The IEC confirms that independent candidates can contest ward elections, while PR elections are contested through Registered Political Parties and their Candidate lists.
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