NEWS & MEDIA

" Electoral Commission satisfied with results"

17 November 2003

On 8 and 9 November 2003 the Electoral Commission (IEC) opened approximately 17 000 voting stations to give all eligible South Africans who have never registered to vote and those who registered but changed their residences the opportunity to register and re-register. Over three million South Africans responded to the call to register as voters for the 2004 Elections taking advantage of the facilities that the Commission had made available to them.
 

Apart from the youth the IEC also found that rural voters registered in larger numbers than before. The increased number of voting stations in rural areas made access easier for them. An increase in the number of ID Book applications and a much improved system of distribution also facilitated their registration, the Chairperson of the IEC, Dr Brigalia Bam, said.
 

More than 3 515 372 people visited 16 821 voting stations over the two day period to register, re-register or check their details on the Voters’ Roll.
 

“The majority of our first time voters were the youth between ages 18 to 25. Not only did they participate in the weekend but they also made use of opportunities at their campuses to register during the targeted registration drive. The IEC has for instance between requested by the SRCs of Wits and RAU Universities to register students at campuses. This dispels the myth of youth apathy in South Africa,” said Dr Bam.
 

Of the 3 515 372 who visited the voting stations, 1 433 490 were new registrations and 2 081 882 were re-registrations (i.e. people who had to register because they moved house or were affected by re-delimitation), the Chief Electoral Officer, Adv Pansy Tlakula, said.
 

“These figures do not include people who visited the voting stations, our website and called our toll free number to check their details. Since the establishment of the call centre on 1 October 2003, 446 870 calls were received of which 80% was answered. On 8 and 9 November only, 74 628 calls were answered. This constitutes 74% of all calls received and a total of 53 914 enquires were received via the Public IEC website.
 

“The IEC targeted youth in its communication campaign preceding the registration weekend and is encouraged by their response. 838 649 new registrations were in the age group of 18 to 25 years. This translates into 58 % of the total new

registrations. Some 43% of new registrations were from voters living in rural areas. They previously only made up 33% of the registered voters”, said Adv Tlakula.
 

After the targeted registration drive and the 8 & 9 November registration weekend, the data is presently being verified and it is expected that the National Common Voters’ Roll will exceed 20 000 000.
 

The Commission will re-open voting stations towards the end of January or beginning February 2004 for the second registration weekend. The IEC appeals to all those who could not register on 8 & 9 November to make use of this opportunity or to register at the municipal electoral offices where they live during office hours from Monday to Friday.
 

While the voter registration weekend of 8 and 9 November was largely successful it also posed some challenges. The IEC has already begun to evaluate the registration weekend and processes and strategies will be put in place for the future, Adv Tlakula said.
 

Dr Bam said she would like to make use of this opportunity to thank the Department of Home Affairs who opened their offices over the weekend to assist the public in applying for temporary identity certificates (TICs), which were issued promptly. Officials of the department even went so far as to deliver ID Books to applicants at home.
 

Political parties are also to be commended for their efforts in informing potential voters and mobilising them to go and register.
 

Last but not least a warm thank you to all the IEC staff at national office, provincial and municipal offices for their hard work and our staff in the voting stations who did the actual registration of voters.
 

This weekend served as a reminder to all eligible voters to prepare for the 2004 Elections and was for the IEC important in their preparations for the elections, Dr Bam said.
 

ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Pretoria
14 November 2003
 

For media queries please contact Lydia Young on 082 650 8652

RESULTS OF VOTER REGISTRATION WEEKEND OF 8 AND 9 NOVEMBER 2003
 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 

A. NEW REGISTRATIONS
 

There was a total of 1 433 490 New Registration Applications:
800 322 Females Applied for Registration (55.8%)
633 168 Males Applied for Registration (44.2%)
838 649 Youth between the ages of 18 – 25 Applied for Registration (58.5%)
 

The following Applications for New Registration were received by Rural/Urban/Metro classification:
Rural: 617 719 (43.09%)
 

Metro: 405 540 (28.29%)
 

Urban: 410 231 (28.62%)
 

B. RE-REGISTRATIONS
 

For Re-Registrations Across Voting Districts (for those who have moved and as a result of Delimitation Revision), 1 634 966 Applications were received and
446 916 voters Applied for Re-Registration Within the Same Voting Districts

 

C. TOTAL REGISTRATION ACTIVITY
 

There was a total Registration Activity of 3 515 372 (Applications for New and Re-Registrations together)
This of course does not include all the voters who only made contact with the IEC

through the mediums indicated below:
IEC Public Website
 

IEC Public Call Centre
 

And those who simply checked their details at the voting station and confirmed them to be correct without applying for re-registration
 

D. PUBLIC CALL CENTRE
 

Between 1 October 2003 and 7 November 2003, 247 808 calls were offered and 199 062 calls were answered (80% answer rate.
During 8-9 November, 75 400 calls were offered and 55 900 calls were answered (74%).

E. IEC PUBLIC WEBSITE
 

A total of 53 914 enquiries on registration were received via the IEC Public Website over the weekend (37 417 and 16 497 on Saturday and Sunday respectively)
 

Contact Person: Lydia Young