South Africa has held its fourth democratic elections on 22 April 2009 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province. More than 23 million people have registered to vote - the highest number since 1994.

South Africa's first democratic election was held in 1994, it's second in 1999 and third in 2004.

The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by proportional representation with a closed list approach. Two hundred members are elected from national party lists, the other 200 are elected from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa is chosen by the National Assembly after each election. The premiers of each province are chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature.

A landmark ruling was reached when the Pretoria High Court ruled on 9 February 2009 that South African citizens living abroad should be allowed to vote in elections. Elections are one of the key ingredients of the working and robust democracy that exists in South Africa (www.wikipedia.org)

Map data - per province 

 
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