A GUIDE FOR SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY ELECTIONS BEING CONDUCTED FOR A FULL DAY

Transcription

1 A GUIDE FOR SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY ELECTIONS BEING CONDUCTED FOR A FULL DAY

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Problem statement 2. Objectives of the guide 3. The Legislation and Principles underlying Free and Fair Elections; and Key Role Players. 4. Voters roll 5. Nomination process 6. Casting of votes 7. Procedures after the election 8. Templates to be used 2

3 1. INTRODUCTION The objective of the forthcoming School Governing Body (SGB) elections is to ensure that properly elected, competent and visionary SGB members assume governance responsibility of our public schooling system in support of quality teaching and learning. It is therefore the wish of the Department of Basic Education to attract as many parents as possible to participate in these elections. Currently SGB elections are conducted during election meetings convened by individual schools, where a quorum is needed for an election to take place. Reports on previous elections indicate that many schools fail to conduct their elections during their first meetings due to poor attendance by parents. In order to alleviate this problem, the Department proposes an alternative approach where schools may choose between conducting elections in a meeting or holding them over a longer period during a chosen day or even a full day (hereinafter referred to as full day elections ) 1. The latter option may be of assistance to schools that have boarding facilities and those that experience challenges of bringing parents to a single meeting of nominations and elections. A school that opts for a full day election must apply to the Head of Department to be granted permission to do so. The following must be borne in mind when this option is permitted: The availability of the electoral team over the duration of the full day elections; Profiles of nominees availed to all potential voters; Monitoring of the entire election; and Adherence to the 15% poll. 1 These elections can be held from e.g. 07:00 till 19:00 or before the school opens until an hour after school closure or from school closure until 19:00. Depending on the circumstances of a particular school, schools may choose the most appropriate times that would ensure maximum participation of parents. If the elections are held during teaching time, such elections must not interfere with the process of learning and teaching. 3

4 2. OBJECTIVES OF THIS GUIDE: This Guide is intended to inform electoral officers on the process and procedure for conducting SGB elections over a day with reference to the following: Day programme; Nominations; Profiling of nominees; Actual voting process; Monitoring of the entire elections; Counting the votes; Announcing the results. This Guide must be used in conjunction with the National Guideline for School Governing Body Elections LEGISLATION AND PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS INCLUSIVE OF KEY ROLE PLAYERS: 3.1 Key legislation that underpins free and fair elections are as follows: The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,(Act 108 of 1996); National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act 27 of 1996); South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996); and Applicable provincial laws; SGB Election measures determined by the MEC in terms of section 28 of SASA 3.2. The following principles must be applied when conducting the SGB elections: The right to equality (equal treatment and protection from unfair discrimination); The right to freedom and security of the person; The right to freedom of association; and 4

5 The right to reasonable and fair administrative action Key Role-Players The Department together with PEDs must ensure that schools that applied to conduct the elections over a day are able to do so National In addition to the responsibilities that are in the election guidelines for these elections the DBE electoral officer must, before the election ensure that all provinces are in possession of the following copies: The National Guidelines for SGB Elections 2012 A guide for the training of the electoral officers 2012 A guide for conducting the elections over a full day Provincial In addition to the responsibilities that are in the election guidelines and provincial regulations for these elections the Provincial Electoral Officer must, before the election ensure the following: Districts notify the province about all schools that have been approved to conduct full day elections; Monitoring teams are in place to support these schools; Schools have a potential of holding successful elections over the full day; and All responsibilities of the District Electoral Officer mentioned in are in place District In addition to the responsibilities that are in the election guidelines and provincial regulations for these elections the District Electoral Officer must, before the election ensure the following: The school has applied for the full day election; The school has a draft election programme in place; The school has notified parents that the elections will be conducted over a full day; 5

6 The notices indicate the venue, opening and closing time for the nominations; A separate notice indicates the venue, opening and closing time of elections and the procedure for the counting of votes; The separate notice referred to above indicates the names and a summary of who the nominees are; School In addition to the responsibilities that are in the election guidelines and provincial regulations for these elections the school electoral officer must, before the election ensure the following: That the school has an approval from the district office to conduct a full day election; A programme is in place for the full day election; All nominees have sent their profiles to the school and these are ready to be posted outside the voting station; The closing time will allow observers as well as the electoral team to travel back safely home; At closing time the school has someone available on the spot for the safe keeping of all documents used for the elections Parent Community It is the responsibility of the parents to: Know the date and time when the elections are going to be held; Avail themselves to be nominated to the SGB; Nominate suitable candidates for elections; Go to the school to cast their votes; and Support the school in all matters pertaining to the elections. Learners should assist with effective communication between the school and home. 6

7 3.4 Eligibility The parent component must be notified that a person will not be eligible to be a member of a governing body if he or she: Is mentally ill and has been declared as such by a competent court; Is an unrehabilitated insolvent; Has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine for a period exceeding six months or has not yet served his or her full period of imprisonment; or No longer falls within the category of being a parent or guardian as stipulated in SASA as amended. 4. VOTERS ROLL FOR PARENTS School Principals must ensure that all parents complete the parents voters registration form (refer to Template 4: Parent Registration Form) and return it to the school within the stipulated timeframe. It is very important that schools have an up to date record of parents information well in advance of the election period. The registration form of parent voters must be used for the compilation of the voters roll. Where the parents registration forms are not returned to the school, only the parents or guardians appearing in the school s admissions register should be included in the voters roll. 5. THE NOMINATION PROCESS: 5.1 Notice of nomination and election process The School Electoral Officer must prepare notices of the nomination and the election process, in which the date, time and place must be stated. The date and time should take school activities, like fund-raising initiatives and handing out of 7

8 learner reports into consideration so as to maximise parent participation (refer to Template 5: Notice of Nomination Meeting for Parents). These should be distributed and displayed in prominent places at the school and in the community at least 21 days prior to the date of the Election Day Nominations. (1) The electoral officer of the school must prepare notices in the prescribed form, in which the date, time and place of the nomination meeting and election must be stated. (2) The electoral officer of the school must ensure that the notices contemplated in subparagraph (1) are displayed in prominent places at the school and in the community at least 30 days prior to date of the election. (3) The principal must (a) at least 14 days prior to the date of the nomination meeting for parent members hand a copy of the notice contemplated in subparagraph (1) to every learner of the school concerned with the oral instruction to hand it to his or her parents; (b) at least 21 days prior to the date of the nomination meeting for parent members send a copy of a notice contemplated in subparagraph (1) to the parents of every learner of the school by post, if he or she deems it expedient; or (a) use a combination of the two notification methods above, supplemented with any other method that works for the school community, as long as it in no way disadvantages any members of the school community. 8

9 (4) Whatever method is used as mentioned in subparagraph (3), the notices must be in the language of the school s instruction, and where necessary, in the home language of learners. Take Note: For whichever method used, the notification must be in the school s language of instruction and in the home language(s) of the learners, where possible, to ensure maximum participation. 5.3 The Step by Step Nomination Process: Nominations (1) A candidate may be nominated and seconded only by a person belonging to the same category of members of a governing body to which the candidate belongs, by - (a) lodging with the electoral officer, not more than seven days and not less than 24 hours prior to the commencement of the nomination meeting, a nomination form duly completed by the proposer, seconder and candidate; or (b) proposing a person as a member of the governing body during the nomination part of the meeting, provided that another person from the category concerned seconds the proposal and a nomination form duly completed by the proposer, the seconder and the candidate, is lodged with the electoral officer of the school. 9

10 (2) The electoral officer of the school must determine the time to be allowed for the nomination of candidates during the nomination meeting, and must inform the meeting thereof. (3) After expiry of the time for nomination referred to in subparagraph (2), the electoral officer must - (a) candidate who - consider the nominations and reject the nomination of any (i) has not been nominated in accordance with subparagraph (1); (ii) is incompetent as disqualified in paragraph 3; or (iii) in the case of a nomination referred to in subparagraph (1)(b), has not completed the said nomination form, unless written proof to the satisfaction of the electoral officer of the school is submitted before the expiry of the time referred to in subparagraph (2), that such candidate will be willing to serve as a member of the governing body; (b) have been accepted. announce the names of the candidates whose nominations accepted - (4) If the total number of candidates whose nominations have been (a) is less than the number of members determined in terms of paragraph 2 in respect of the category concerned, a new 10

11 meeting at which new candidates must be nominated shall be convened; (b) is equal to the number of members determined in terms of paragraph 2 in respect of the category concerned, the electoral officer must declare every accepted candidate to be a elected member of the governing body; or (c) is more than the number of members determined in terms of paragraph 2 in respect of the category concerned, an election must be held in accordance with paragraph 11. Please note: It is the responsibility of the Electoral Officer to ensure that anyone who wants to be nominated feels free to do so. There must be no attempt to organise the process in such a way that only the required number of officebearers is nominated so as to avoid the election process. This should be closely monitored by the District Electoral Officer. 6. CASTING OF VOTES The National Guidelines for School Governing Body Elections and the Provincial Regulations for the SGB elections must be used as sources of reference for the election process. A person cannot act as a proxy for more than one person The Procedure to be followed by a candidate when nominated: The nominee must send a profile to the school which state at least: His or her surname and name; The names and grades of his or her children in the school; 11

12 Occupation and experience or skills; A statement that indicates that he or she is legible to be an SGB member as explained in 3.3; and Vision for the school (this should be brief and not include promises) Duties of the Electoral Officer before distributing the ballot papers: Before the ballot papers (refer to Template 7: Ballot Paper for Parent Members) are distributed, the School Electoral Officer must: Ensure that every ballot paper has the school stamp on it, or some other distinguishing feature which prevents the ballot papers from being tampered with; Profiles of all nominees are displayed outside the voting station; and A document is displayed that explains the voting process, the minimum and maximum number of candidates to be voted for, as well as how to record the voting either by using numbers or by writing names or both, as indicated below The Voting Process All eligible voters whose names appear on the voters roll are located and marked off the roll in 100% of cases. An eligible voter who complies with all requirements and does not require any assistance must be processed in 5 minutes or less through the entire voting process. Voters who require preferential treatment (such as the elderly, disabled voters or pregnant women) are assisted without prejudicing other voters. No voters are allowed to vote whose names do not appear on the voters roll for that school. All the voting integrity tasks are performed for each eligible voter that has visited the station (i.e. voter s name is marked off the voters roll). No voters are allowed to vote who fail any of the voting integrity checks. 12

13 All voters are issued with the correct ballot papers (Template 7). No complaints or objections regarding the assistance given to illiterate voters or voters with visual impairment are received. The electoral process and personnel are monitored in a manner that provides sufficient information for record keeping and to allow for timely interventions when required. Objections from voters are recorded and decided in line with legislation contained in the national guidelines booklet. Interactions with voters, personnel, and any other role-players are inclusive, non-partisan, respecting human dignity and promoting tolerance. Potential or actual problems are identified and analysed in terms of potential impact on the electoral process and possible solutions. Resolution of problems is justified by the situations and is suitable for addressing the problems effectively. Problem solving activities are in line with plans, legislation and/or specified requirements taking into account legislation and non-compliance. The manner of problem-solving promotes the smooth running of the voting station, upholds the principle of free and fair elections and does not under any circumstances disenfranchise an eligible voter. The voting process and procedures are open to observers to witness without interference with the process or voters. It is strongly recommended that the use of a ballot box be adhered to. The Electoral Officer and the School Principal may however improvise if there is no official ballot box. It should be noted that the ballot box, must be sealed after observers have acknowledged that it is empty. 6.4 Assistance to Voters: A voter with low literacy level or one who is physically challenged may, at his or her own request, be assisted by the Electoral Officer. The voter must however 13

14 identify any person in the room to witness the assistance that is being given by the Electoral Officer. 7. Procedures after the elections 7.1 Counting of Votes: Counting of ballots takes places as soon as practically possible after the closure of the station for voting. The School Electoral Officer has to ensure that the ballot papers meet the 15 % poll in order for the counting to proceed. For example; if the school has 500 people appearing in the admissions register as parents or guardians; a minimum of 75 (15%) of ballot papers must have been cast into the ballot box during the Election Day. If not, counting stops and another date for the elections is decided upon and should be communicated to the parent body within 7 days. If the 15% poll is met, then the School Electoral Officer has to ensure the following: i. The counting and results process and procedures are open to observers and candidates to witness. ii. All questionable ballots are decided in line with accepted rules and legislation as outlined on page 12 of the national guidelines. iii. All objections by voters to counting are recorded accurately. iv. State to the observers the name of each candidate and the number of votes cast for each. v. Complete the counted ballot papers form (template 8) in the national guidelines booklet. vi. The Results Slip (template 8) has been signed 100% of the times by the electoral officer. 14

15 vii. Where the number of votes recorded for two or more candidates is equal and it affects the result of the poll, the electoral officer shall ascertain the result with regard to the said candidates by drawing lots or some other method that allows for a random selection between tied candidates. This must be done openly and with agreement of the candidates that it is a fair process viii. Should there be a dispute that the electoral officer is unable to resolve the election should be completed. In cases of such a dispute that cannot be resolved an appeal process should be followed after the elections have been completed. ix. If the complainant is not satisfied, the matter can be referred to the District Electoral Officer within 7 days after the Election Day. An appeal can also be lodged with the MEC within 30 days, should the complainant not be satisfied with the decision taken by the District Electoral Officer. x. All envelopes, boxes and ballot boxes have been clearly marked with the contents and election date Dealing with questionable ballots: The Electoral Officer will reject a ballot paper: That is without the official mark or Provincial Education / School stamp Has more votes recorded than the number of members to be elected; and That is completed, in such a way that it is uncertain as to which candidate or candidates a vote was recorded for. Take Note: Where the Electoral Officer has rejected a ballot paper based upon the above; an explanation as to why this was done must be given by the Electoral Officer to all members present; and they must be given an opportunity to view the rejected ballot if they so wish, and 15

16 Any voter present must also be given the opportunity to object to the decision of the Electoral Officer; either to count, or to reject a ballot paper; but this will not change the Electoral Officer s decision. In the event of an objection by a voter either to a ballot being counted, or rejected by the Electoral Officer, a record of such objection must be made at the back of the ballot paper, and in the election report The Counting Process: Listed below are the main duties that have to be carried out during the counting process: After the rejection of any ballot papers, the Electoral Officer must: Count the votes in the presence of every candidate and voter who wishes to be present. The Counting Steps: The process flow will only focus on the steps and the main duty linked to the steps outlined below: Step1 Unfolding: Open ballot boxes and unfold ballots and place face down. Step 2 Sorting: Examine all ballots for the official stamp at the back and reject any ballot that does not have a stamp. Step 3 Reconciliation of ballots: Count all ballots face down. This number must match the number of ballots that were handed out and placed in the ballot box. Step 4 Counting: Turn the ballots face up and count the ballots per nominated candidates and record these totals as stipulated below. 16

17 7.4. Decision of the Electoral Officer in case of disputes The Electoral Officer must decide on all matters regarding the nomination of candidates and the poll. All disputes should be reported to the officiating Electoral Officer during the election process. The Electoral Officer is mandated to resolve all disputes in order to declare the elections free and fair. His or her decision during the election is final. In case of a dispute that cannot be resolved, an appeal process should be followed after the elections have been completed. If the complainant is not satisfied, the matter can be referred to the District Electoral Officer within seven days after the election. An appeal can be lodged with the MEC within 30 days if the complainant is not satisfied with the decision taken by the District Electoral Officer. 7.5 Procedures immediately after election of the Governing Body After the election of a SGB the Electoral Officer must: Place all documents, including ballot papers, used at the election in envelopes and seal the envelopes; Keep those envelopes in safe custody for a period of at least three months from the date of the election of the governing body concerned; Notify each elected member in writing of his or her election; Notify the Principal of the school in writing of the names and addresses of the persons elected as members, and inform the Principal that he or she must notify the parents of the election results within 14 days of the meeting; 17

18 Ensure that the District Manager is informed in writing of the names and addresses of the persons elected as SGB members (refer to Template 1: Notification of all Members Elected to the SGB); and Include an undisputed election declaration where this was the case, or a declaration detailing any disputes (refer to Template 15: Election Declaration Form). 8. Templates to be used Template notation Notification of All Members Elected to the SGB SGB Data Form Parents Voters Roll Parent Registration Form Notice of Nomination Meeting for Parents Nomination Form Ballot Paper for Parent Members Counted Ballot Papers and Declaration of Number of Voters Notification of Office-bearers Elected to the SGB Election Declaration Form 18