The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) announces the arrival of its election observation mission (EOM) in South Africa. Following an invitation by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the EISA EOM will observe the local government elections, scheduled to take place on 3 August 2016. Members of the EOM started arriving in Pretoria on 27 July 2016. The EISA Short Term Observers are deployed to contribute to an independent assessment of the integrity of the 2016 local government elections in the Republic of South Africa.

The Mission consists of 14 Short Term Observers (STOs). These observers are drawn from civil society organisations (CSOs) across the continent. The Mission is led by EISA’s Executive Director. The Mission will make an impartial and independent assessment of the electoral process based on international standards and obligations stipulated in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation (PEMMO) and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.

The EISA STOs are deployed to contribute to an independent assessment of the integrity of the electoral process through the observation of the pre-polling, Election Day and post-polling activities. The Mission will also ascertain whether the elections meet the international obligations subscribed to by South Africa and good election practices. EISA has been involved in the South African electoral process since 1999 when it deployed an election observation mission to the general election.

The STOs will be deployed to the following provinces: Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Western Cape. During their deployment, STOs will consult with various electoral stakeholders including the IEC, political parties, media and CSOs. They will also observe the end of the campaign period, Election Day procedures and the immediate post- election period. Observers will capture their observations using smart tablets that allow real time transmission and analysis of data. STOs will remain in the country until 5 of August 2016. The elections and political processes team at the EISA head office will continue to monitor the post-election phase.

The EISA EOM will issue a preliminary statement on its findings on the electoral process within 24 hours of the close of polling. The Mission will also issue a final report detailing the Mission’s findings on the electoral process a few months after the declaration of election results.

Issued by EISA