[dt_fancy_image type=”image” style=”2″ width=”300″ padding=”10″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”10″ margin_left=”0″ margin_right=”20″ align=”none” animation=”none” image=”http://pharmaciae.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Vol5No1Elections2018.jpg” image_alt=”Pharmaciae – SAPC – Council Elections 2018″]
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Council Elections 2018 – Have you voted yet?
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The current term-of-office of the South African Pharmacy Council comes to an end on 20 October 2018. The election and appointment of a new Council, to commence their term-of-office on 21 October 2018 is a two-pronged process; nine members of Council who are pharmacists are elected by pharmacists and the remaining 16 members of Council are appointed by the Minister of Health.
The election process of the nine pharmacists elected by the profession is run and managed by the Registrar of Council as the Returning Officer. This is done in collaboration with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), who have been appointed by Council as the independent monitoring body to ensure that such process is free, fair and transparent. Council Elections 2018 commenced on 6 April 2018.
After the closing date for nominations, the Returning Officer had received 72 valid nominations, and this list of nominees was published in the Government Gazette under Board Notice 82 of 2018. Now it is time for pharmacists to vote!
Ballot packs have been distributed by courier. A ballot pack includes a Ballot Form, an Information Booklet, an Identification Envelope and another courier bag.
What must I do now?
Step 1 – Vote for no more than 9 candidates on the Ballot Form, and no more than one Ballot Form must be filled
Step 2 – Fill in the Identification Envelope and place the Ballot Form inside the envelope
Step 3 – send an SMS to 064 935 9959 OR an email with your P number to arrange collection of your ballot form and it will be couriered back to the Returning Officer at no expense to you.
It is stated on the ballot pack that the closing date for the collection of the ballot packs is 13 August 2018, with the closing date of 17 August 2018. Due to the delay in the distribution of ballot packs, the Returning Officer has extended the closing date for the ballots to 7 September 2018. The last day now for the collection of ballots is 3 September 2018 and the closing date for ballots is 7 September 2018.
So you have voted, now what happens? The Returning Officer, in partnership with the IEC, will then count the votes. All nominated candidates will be invited to observe the counting of the votes. The nine candidates with the highest number votes will be elected as Council members. These nine people, together with the 16 remaining members appointed by the Minister of Health, will form the new Council. The names of all 25 Council Members will then be published in the Government Gazette and the members will serve a 5-year term-of-office.
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