Your vote in the 2026/2027 South African municipal election is actually ‘worth three’

Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Helen Zille is urging Johannesburg residents to understand the full power of their vote in next year’s local government elections.

Speaking to Newsday, Zille said that one of the biggest challenges going into the elections is that of voter apathy.

“People have two votes in the local government election… your ward vote gets counted twice,” said Zille.

“So they are not only voting for their ward councillor in their ward vote, they are voting to add to the party’s total on the proportional list. And that is very, very important for people to understand.”

“Lots of people stay away. They say, ‘Well, I don’t have to go and vote. I know that the DA always wins in my constituency, so we’ll get a DA councillor anyway.'”

“What they don’t realise is they are costing the DA three votes every time they stay at home,” she said.

While voters in metropoles are given two ballots, when counting votes, they technically actually count as three votes.

When you vote to elect people to represent you in your local municipality, you get two ballots;

• The first is for a person to represent your local geographic ward and,
• The second is a vote for the party which you would like to be in charge of your municipality. This is called the proportional representation or ‘PR ballot’.

Breaking down how your votes ‘count as three’

Your ward vote can be for someone who represents a party or for an ‘independent’ candidate. This person will be the political representative for you and your community.

They will be the one you go to when having problems in your area, whether it be electricity issues, lack of municipal service delivery or safety concerns.

The candidate with the most votes in the ward wins.

Then there is the PR ballot, the ballot where you indicate your choice of party to run the municipality.

The quota of votes needed to gain a seat is worked out by adding the total number of votes cast in that election on both the PR and ward ballots and then dividing it by the number of seats available in the municipality.

All votes cast for a party on the PR ballot and for that party’s candidates on ward ballots are added together. Each party’s total is then divided by the quota to see how many seats they are entitled to.

The number of ward seats already won by that party are then subtracted from the total number of seats allocated to the party.

The remainder of seats the party is entitled to are then allocated to councillors on the party’s PR list to ensure the proportion of votes cast for a party roughly matches its proportion of seats.

• Ward vote: This is for your local ward councillor who represents your area directly. The candidate with the most votes wins.
• Proportional representation (PR) vote: Your second ballot is for your preferred party to run the city, adding to their overall share of council seats.
• Ward vote counted again: After determining the ward winner, this vote is added again to the proportional representation calculation to determine each party’s total council seats.

Result: Two ballots can effectively equal three votes for your party in technical terms.

We need to stem voter apathy – Zille

Zille, a Johannesburg native born in Hillbrow and former premier of the Western Cape, returned to her hometown to run for mayor, citing both the city’s challenges and its potential.

“In some ways it’s exhilarating and in some ways it’s depressing, but overall it’s a big challenge and I love challenges,” she told Newsday.

The DA’s campaign in Johannesburg, Zille said, is centered on educating voters about the stakes of their participation.

“The person who gets their voters out wins the election in these metros. I mean, it’s neck and neck between the DA and the ANC. Every vote counts — in fact, every vote counts three times,” Zille said.

She warned that even small amounts of voter apathy can have outsized consequences.

In a city where council majorities are often decided by narrow margins, skipping a single vote or splitting votes among smaller parties can make a significant difference.

Zille explained that people need to understand that every ballot has a multiplied effect in the proportional representation system, and staying home or dispersing votes weakens the chance of forming stable government.