POLITICS

80.8% of eligible voters registered - IEC

Gauteng the province with highest number of registered voters, followed by KZN, the ECape and then Gauteng

Certification of the voters' roll for 2014 elections

06 Mar 2014

Chief Electoral Officer Mosotho Moepya has certified the voters' roll, setting the stage for 25 390 150 voters to cast their ballots in the 7 May 2014 national and provincial elections.

This is 2 208 153 more voters (9.5% increase) than were on the voters' roll for the 2009 national and provincial elections and 7.2 million (39.72% increase) more than were on the voters' roll when it was established for the first time for the 1999 elections.

The voters' roll reflects a total of 80.80% of registered voters when compared against the estimated voting age population according to estimates from Statistics South Africa. In comparison, registration levels stood at 80% in 1999, 84.6% in 2004 and 84.07% in 2009.

Gauteng has the highest number of voters with just over 6 million followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 5.1 million, the Eastern Cape with 3.24 million and the Western Cape with 2.9 million. Between them these four provinces make up almost 68% of all voters.

The following are the provincial breakdowns:

NPE 2014 Certified Voters' Roll: 5 March 2014

Percentage (%) registration against Stats SA VAP by province

Province

STATS SA VAP Estimate

Certified Voters' Roll
(5 March 2014)

% Voter registration

Eastern Cape

3 794 352

3 240 059

85.4%

Free State

1 685 198

1 449 488

86.0%

Gauteng

7 860 280

6 063 739

77.1%

KwaZulu-Natal

6 096 509

5 117 131

83.9%

Limpopo

3 004 795

2 440 348

81.2%

Mpumalanga

2 389 406

1 860 834

77.9%

North West

2 120 381

1 669 349

78.7%

Northern Cape

711 843

601 080

84.4%

Western Cape

3 771 271

2 941 333

78.0%

Out of Country

 

6 789

 

Total

31 434 035

25 390 150

80.8%

An analysis of the changing pattern of the voters' roll over previous elections shows the continuing migration of people from rural areas to the major centres. The biggest increase in voter numbers over the past 15 years has come in the provinces of Gauteng (up 1.9 million), KwaZulu-Natal (up 1.67 million) and Western Cape (up 1 million). The smallest increase has come from the North West which grew by just 141 677 voters since 1999.

The following is a comparison of the voters' roll and turnouts for the previous national and provincial elections:

Voters' Roll Comparison and Turnout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elections 1999

Elections 2004

Elections 2009

Elections 2014

 

Province

 1999 Voters' roll

Total Votes Cast (national ballot)

2004 Voters' roll

Total Votes Cast (national ballot)

2009 Voters' roll

Total Votes Cast (national ballot)

2014 Voters' roll

% Increase in registered voters from 1999

Eastern Cape

2 454 543

2 188 184

2 849 486

2 277 391

3 056 559

2 344 098

3 240 059

24.53%

Free State

1 225 730

1 094 776

1 321 195

1 022 044

1 388 588

1 069 127

1 449 488

13.29%

Gauteng

4 154 087

3 704 449

4 650 594

3 504 363

5 461 972

4 391 699

6 063 739

31.48%

KwaZulu-Natal

3 443 978

2 958 963

3 819 864

2 765 203

4 475 217

3 574 326

5 117 131

29.94%

Limpopo

1 847 766

1 660 849

2 187 912

1 657 596

2 256 073

1 570 592

2 440 348

22.10%

Mpumalanga

1 277 783

1 132 517

1 442 472

1 134 092

1 696 705

1 363 836

1 860 834

32.79%

North West

1 527 672

1 307 532

1 749 529

1 323 761

1 657 544

1 135 701

1 669 349

8.50%

Northern Cape

 377 173

327 950

433 591

323 201

554 900

421 490

601 080

47.12%

Western Cape

1 864 019

1 601 922

2 220 283

1 605 020

2 634 439

2 049 097

2 941 333

41.33%

Out of Country

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 789

 

Total

18 172 751

15 977 142

20 674 926

15 612 671

23 181 997

17 919 966

25 390 150

39.72%

Registered %

80.00%

84.60%

84.07%

80.80%

Voter turnout %

87.92%

75.52%

77.30%

7 May 2014

A gender analysis shows that women outnumber men by 13.94 million (54.9%) to 11.45 million (45.1%) on the voters' roll. The voters' roll also shows that South Africa is still a relatively young population with 49.57% of the registered voters under 40 years old. The biggest segment of voters is those aged 30 - 39 (6.18 million) followed by 20 - 29 year olds (5.7 million) and 40 - 49 year olds (5 million).

The age and gender breakdown is as follows:

Age Band

Female

Male

Total

%

18 - 19

 349 957

 296 356

 646 313

2.55%

20 - 29

 3 098 577

 2 660 659

 5 759 236

22.68%

30 - 39

 3 223 740

 2 956 794

 6 180 534

24.34%

40 - 49

 2 693 943

 2 313 558

 5 007 501

19.72%

50 - 59

 2 111 311

 1 684 820

 3 796 131

14.95%

60 - 69

 1 301 401

 963 313

 2 264 714

8.92%

70 - 79

 741 549

 418 950

 1 160 499

4.57%

80

 417 825

 157 397

 575 222

2.27%

Total

 13 938 303

 11 451 847

 25 390 150

 

The certified voters' roll is available for inspection at all IEC offices around the country. Voters can check their registration details by SMSing their ID number to 32810 (cost R1).

Statement issued by Kate Bapela, Independent Electoral Commission, March 6 2014

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