You Don’t Fix Voter Turnout with Dates, You Fix It with Political Campaigns
An announcement by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) expressing readiness to roll out the next municipal ballot between November 2 this year and January 31 next year was met with projections by analysts on what period would be optimal to increase voter turnout. The argument advanced by analysts in Business Day that a November political campaign period would boost voter turnout is intuitively appealing. Avoid the December shutdown, escape January fatigue, and voters will show up. It suggests there can be a neat administrative fix to a deeply political problem.