WC has 3.3 million eligible voters - IEC

There are 3 317 072 eligible voters in the Western Cape. This was revealed by the Provincial Electoral Officer, Michael Hendrickse.

ARCHIVE

In a statement, Hendrickse says, of these, 1 838 054 are women, and 1 479 018 are men. This represents 64.7% of eligible voters in the province and 11.94% nationally. Since the 1999 general elections, the Western Cape has shown a whopping 77,95% increase in registered voters, when that figure stood at 1 864 019.

INFO: IEC WC

Hendrickse says the province is steadily working its way to becoming one of the top three provinces with the highest registered voters.

"The IEC in the Western Cape is pleased to announce it has made great strides in increasing the province's eligible voters. Our efforts are paying off and we can only improve on this going forward. It is encouraging to see that South African citizens want to actively play a part in the country's democracy.’’

‘’Consistent and extensive fieldwork programmes by IEC staff through its Outreach department appear to have paid off. The IEC is continuing these voter education programmes with campaigns such as schools’ democracy, a focus on the youth, people with disabilities and balloting and other election-related education,’’ he added.

The Provincial IEC head has expressed concern about misinformation being spread regarding the upcoming elections.

‘’This has the potential to cause confusion among voters and detract from the organisation's goal of delivering free and fair elections. It can take the form of deliberate acts of disseminating incorrect facts in an attempt to discredit the IEC, or as simple as misunderstanding certain aspects of the electoral process.’’

‘’Another perturbing trend is that, through social media, some disgruntled citizens choose to take unsubstantiated pot shots at the IEC, setting in motion the perpetuation of untruths, innuendo and conjecture,’’ said Michael Hendrickse, Provincial Electoral officer.

PHOTO: IEC

He encouraged the public to verify information on official IEC platforms such as its official website at www.elections.org.za, social media account or media statements.

"We really want to discourage this kind of behaviour which does more harm than good. Not only for us as an organisation, but it also hampers the unfettered rollout of our democracy. The spread of lies undermines our democracy."  

‘’Please also remember that for queries all our IEC offices are open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 5pm. You can also reach our call centre during office hours at 0800 11 8000,’’ added Michael Hendrickse, Provincial Electoral Officer.

 

Done By: Mitchum George