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Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1
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Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Dec 24, 2015

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Page 1: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections

Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs

13 August 2013

1

Page 2: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Introduction• Electoral Amendment Bill• Political Environment• Strategies to Encourage Participation of the Youth• Civic Education Strategies• Collaboration with other Chapter 9 Institutions• Electoral Staff Training• Ensuring Conditions for Free and Fair Elections• Effective Enforcement of the Code of Conduct• Intra-party Disputes

2

Page 3: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Legislative Framework

• The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

• Electoral Commission Act 1996 (Act No. 51 of 1996)

• Electoral Act 1998, (Act No. 73 of 1998)

• The five year term for the current National Assembly (NA) and

Provincial Legislatures (PL) expires on 21 April 2014

• Elections must be held within 90 days of the expiry of the term

or dissolution of the NA and/or PL

• Election date proclaimed by the President of the Republic of

South Africa

3

Page 4: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Proposed Legislative Amendments (…1)

• The Commission has made proposals on legislative

amendments taking into consideration:

– two Constitutional Court judgements;

– reports by observers;

– election de-briefing sessions at levels of the

organisation;

– election de-briefing sessions with organs of civil

society, and

– election de-briefing sessions and consultations with

political parties;

4

Page 5: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Proposed Legislative Amendments (…2)

• The Electoral Amendment Bill 2013 seeks to amend the Electoral Act, 1998 (the Act) by:

– Amending and inserting certain definitions;

– Revising provisions related to the registration of voters;

– Revising provisions related to special votes in the

elections of the NA and PL;

– Revising provisions related to the number of party

agents at a voting station;

– Correcting certain important technical aspects in the text

of the Act and to provide for matters connected

therewith.

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Page 6: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Programme Management (EPM)

• The EPM is an integrated programme that entails 375

election-related projects across the divisions of the

Electoral Commission (EC);

• The projects are managed across all spheres of the EC

(National Office, Provincial Electoral Offices and

Municipal Electoral Offices);

• The EPM is updated on an on-going basis with

progress reviewed on a weekly basis and formally

reported upon on a monthly basis;

• Election preparation are proceeding according to

schedule thus far. 6

Page 7: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Delimitation

• Voting station network updated in line with new human

settlement patterns;

• Measures taken to increase the accessibility of voting

stations by voters;

• The number of voting districts has increased from

20,859 in 2011 to ± 22,225 in 2013 (this is not final yet);

• The current re-determination of outer municipal

boundaries may impact on voting districts; and

• Technical alignments of boundaries are currently

underway between the EC and the Municipal

Demarcation Board (MDB). 7

Page 8: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Expansion Staff Recruitment and Training (…1)

• Expansion programme at National and Provincial Offices

of the EC has been concluded and implementation is

underway;

• Outreach capacity has been strengthened through the

appointment of Outreach and Training Officers (OTOs -

51) – in addition to Regional Supervisors (RSs) and their

support staff in all District Councils (DCs). Their

orientation sessions have been completed;

• The recruitment of Municipal Outreach Co-ordinators

(MFCs - 242) and Democracy Education Fieldworkers

(DEFs - 1110) is underway, with some already appointed;8

Page 9: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Expansion Staff Recruitment and Training (…2)

• Phase 1 of the recruitment and training of expansion

staff has been completed (i.e., Assistant Project Co-

ordinators (APCs – 131) who will be manning MEO

offices with one staff member and/or where Electoral

Projects Co-ordinators (EPCs) will be seconded to

training posts);

• 2,137 of a total of 4,277 (i.e. 495) Area Managers have

been recruited for the 2014 elections

• 21,901 of a total of 44,484 registration officials have

been recruited for the general registration weekend9

Page 10: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Expansion Staff Recruitment and Training (…3)

• Phase 2 of the recruitment and training of expansion

staff will be completed in September 2013;

• Training boot-camps for registration weekends have

been completed in all provinces;

• A total of 19,856 electoral staff (presiding officers,

deputy presiding officers, and area managers) have

been trained to date

• The revision of MEO contracts has been completed

and will take effect from 1 October 2013;

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Page 11: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Outreach (…1)

• Outreach comprises Civic and Democracy Education

(CDE), Stakeholder Management, International

Relations, Election Observation and Communications;

• A Task Team of EC Staff members, specialist

materials developers and educational practitioners has

been established to develop and/or quality assure all

educational materials in all official languages as well

as Braille. Good progress has been made in this

regard;

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Page 12: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Outreach (…2)

• Consultations with stakeholders are scheduled and/or

underway, including:

– the Presidency, Ministries and Government

Departments, Provincial Legislatures, organised local

government, organised business and labour, traditional

leadership, youth formations, schools and institutions of

tertiary education, amongst others;

• Arrangements between the EC and the Department of

Basic Education (DBE) are at an advanced stage to host

the first ever Schools Democracy Week in October 2013;

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Page 13: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Outreach (…3)

• A Communication Strategy as well as an Implementation Plan have been approved and are now in the roll-out phase;

• A National Co-ordinating Forum (NCF) has been established comprising members of civil society organisations (CSOs) at National and Provincial levels. The NCF seeks to:– Address matters concerning civic and voter

education in general and the delivery of such services by CSOs in particular;

– Co-ordinate efforts aimed at proactively addressing conflict management; and

– Encourage election observation especially by domestic observers.

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Page 14: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Outreach (…4)

• Arrangements between the EC and the Department of Basic

Education (DBE) are at an advanced stage to host the first ever

Schools Democracy Week in early October 2013;

• On the international relations front, plans to organise a

conference on ‘Youth and Elections’ in collaboration with SADC

Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) later in October 2013 are

unfolding. The conference will be held in South Africa with youth

formations from across SADC countries in attendance;

• A Communication Strategy as well as an Implementation Plan

have been approved and are now in the roll-out phase;

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Page 15: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Public Awareness (…2)

• An election logo and slogan will underpin the

communications campaign across a number of platforms

– Outdoor (Billboards, Wall Murals, Train Station

Boards, Taxi & Rank TV);

– Print (Posters, Flyers, Newspapers, Magazines);

– Electronic (Television, Radio);

– Digital/Online (Website, Applications)

– New media (Facebook, Twitter, Mix-it)

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Page 16: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Public Awareness (…2)

• There will be a greater focus on social media in order

to reach our target market

• SMS facility: allows voters to check voter registration

details;

• Public website will be form-friendly and allows voters to

check registration status on-line; help locate voting

stations, provide updated calendar of events, media

releases and election results;

• Public call centre: toll-free number.

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Page 17: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Enforcement of the Electoral Code of Conduct

• The Electoral Act prescribes an Electoral Code of

Conduct, which must be subscribed to by every party

and/or candidate contesting an election

• The Code is enforceable by the Electoral Court

• Other forms of prohibited conduct in terms of the Electoral

Act 1998 are criminal offences and will be dealt with by

the courts

• Previous election experience suggests the need for:

– Improved training of law enforcement officials

– Exploring possible designation of special courts to

hear electoral cases 17

Page 18: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voter Registration Gap

Percentage (%) registration against StatsSA VAP Age band: 18 - 19

PROVINCEStatsSA VAP

Registered % Registered

Eastern Cape 217 987 40 596 19%Free State 82 310 9 957 12%Gauteng 296 510 16 976 6%KwaZulu-Natal 343 581 50 122 15%Limpopo 188 317 28 147 15%Mpumalanga 130 346 12 770 10%North West 97 531 14 326 15%Northern Cape 32 811 4 026 12%Western Cape 151 509 8 105 5%TOTAL 1 540 902 185 025 12%

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Page 19: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voter Registration Gap (…2)

Percentage (%) registration against StatsSA VAP Age band: 20 - 29

PROVINCEStatsSA VAP

Registered% Registered

Eastern Cape 828 685 657 131 79%Free State 395 330 286 270 72%Gauteng 1 940 249 1 009 726 52%KwaZulu-Natal 1 596 919 1 156 170 72%Limpopo 723 823 532 692 74%Mpumalanga 611 829 400 199 65%North West 489 611 305 305 62%Northern Cape 156 715 112 372 72%Western Cape 841 874 449 556 53%TOTAL 7 585 035 4 909 421 65%

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Page 20: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voter Registration Gap (…3)

Percentage (%) registration against StatsSA VAP Age band: 30 - 39

PROVINCEStatsSA VAP

Registered% Registered

Eastern Cape 718 834 675 342 94%Free State 358 089 331 814 93%Gauteng 1 950 565 1 492 058 76%

KwaZulu-Natal 1 290 996 1 147 638 89%Limpopo 595 192 579 728 97%Mpumalanga 517 550 437 678 85%North West 463 045 396 165 86%

Northern Cape 155 584 140 050 90%Western Cape 846 091 687 673 81%TOTAL 6 895 947 5 888 146 85%

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Page 21: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voter Registration Gap (…4)

Percentage (%) registration against StatsSA VAP Age band: 60 - 69

PROVINCEStatsSA VAP

Registered% Registered

Eastern Cape 311 663 310 595 100%Free State 127 870 126 905 99%Gauteng 471 650 467 616 99%

KwaZulu-Natal 404 330 401 851 99%Limpopo 205 309 203 995 99%Mpumalanga 134 520 133 618 99%North West 144 148 142 921 99%

Northern Cape 52 628 52 371 100%

Western Cape 258 681 257 160 99%TOTAL 2 110 799 2 097 032 99%

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Page 22: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voter Registration

• There were 23 062 521 registered voters as at 5 August

2013 on the Voters’ Roll;

• Continuous voter registration yield is low;

• Phase 1 of targeted communication and registration (TCR)

following changes as a result of demarcation processes,

has taken place in affected areas with a yield of 310 000

total registrations;

• Phase 2 of TCR will target wards with 60% or less voter

registrations. Four days will be set aside in September for

this exercise; and• General registration weekends have a proven record of

high voter registration yields and are therefore planned. 22

Page 23: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Voters’ Roll

• The South African voters’ roll remains a fundamental

contributor to the credibility of the country’s elections:– Regularly updated against the national population register

(at least once-a-month);– Maintains audit trails of all voters since the first voters’ roll

was compiled in 1998;– Readily available for inspection whenever an election is

called; and– Copies of the voters’ roll are provided to parties and

candidates contesting elections.

• The loss of registered voters as a result of death has

decreased significantly in comparison to the last NPE.

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Page 24: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

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Voters’ Roll Comparison

Elections Verified Voters

% Increase

1999 National and Provincial elections

18 172 751

2004 National and Provincial elections

20 674 926 13.77%

2009 National and Provincial elections

23 181 997 12.13%

Current 23 062 521

Page 25: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

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Registration of Political Parties and Liaison

• There were 225 registered political parties as at 8 August

2013 – 140 in the national sphere and 85 in the

municipal sphere of government;

• Political party registration is an on-going activity;

• Political parties have to be registered to contest an

election;

• Parties with representation in the national, provincial

and/or municipal spheres of government are represented

in the Party Liaison Committees (PLCs) at National,

Provincial and/or Municipal levels organised by the EC.

Page 26: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

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Registration of Political Parties and Liaison

• There are 2517 PLC Meetings (12 Nat/108 Prov/2397

Munic) scheduled in the 2013/14 Financial Year;

• The EC has also scheduled at least 2 meetings of non-

represented parties across all spheres of government.

Page 27: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Staff Recruitment and Training (…1)

• In excess of 250 000 election officials will be recruited

for the elections

• Training programme being rolled out and all election

officials will be trained before voting day

• National and Provincial “train the trainer” workshops

are concluded. Modular training currently underway for

registration staff

• Training will also be rolled out for party agents and

police officers

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Page 28: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Staff Recruitment and Training (…2)

• Criteria for the appointment of election officials (presiding

and deputy presiding officers, in particular) include:

– Presiding (and deputy presiding) officers must not in the

last five years have held political office or been a

candidate in an election or have been politically active

for a political party

– must not in the last five years have held office in an

organisation that has party political affiliations or aims.

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Page 29: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Staff Recruitment and Training (…3)

• Party Liaison Committees (PLCs) consulted on choice

of registration officials before contracts with registration

staff were concluded. Same will apply to election staff

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Page 30: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Logistics and Infrastructure

• Processes to procure election material underway (registration weekend materials already delivered to provincial warehouses);

• Members of the Commission have approved the design and security features of the ballot paper;

• Election material is planned for delivery from January 2014;

• Tenders for security warehousing services are undergoing evaluation and award procedures;

• The national warehouse and 8 provincial warehouses are secured for the elections; and

• The provision of election materials will be linked to the registered voters, with a small buffer (<5%) after considering unit quantities.

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Page 31: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)…1

• Tight security measures are maintained within the ICT

environment;

• Drills have been undertaken to test the EC’s disaster

recovery plans. These tests were successful;

• Tender invitation will be issued shortly to ICT audit firms to

undertake independent tests that will ensure that the results

system to be used in the 2014 NPE is indeed fit for purpose;

• At least 2 dry-runs will be undertaken with all offices of the

EC participating in the dry-runs. This is a stress test similar

to events on or soon after Election Day;

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Page 32: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)…2

• In collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, the

Smart Card Identity card has been tested for use both on the

‘zip-zip’ for both registration and voting. These tests were

successful;

• Systems will be in place for the notifications of special vote

applications by voters in the country and abroad;

• In every voting station, ‘zip-zips’ will carry the entire voters’

roll, with capability to identify the voting district at which the

‘zip-zip’ is used;• The ‘Voter Participation Application’ will be activated, with real

data on voter participation forming part of the Election report.

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Page 33: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Ensuring the Credibility of Elections (…1)

• Measures have been taken to strengthen the role of party

agents at voting stations and results capturing centres (MEO

offices);

• Counting will commence immediately after the closure of

voting stations;

• Counting will be done in the presence of party agents and

observers;

• Results slips will be filled following the conclusion of the

count. Party agents will have the opportunity to verify and

sign the result slips;

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Page 34: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Ensuring the Credibility of Elections (…2)

• Transparent temper-proof bags will be used to secure the

authenticity of result slips between VSs and MEO offices;

• Result slips received at the MEO offices (where results

capturing will be taking place) will be recorded to ensure

completeness;

• Result slip capturing will be done using the double blind tally

system – if the first and second capture match, the system will

accept the captured results;

• Captured results will; then be available for results auditing;

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Page 35: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Ensuring the Credibility of Elections (…3)

• Independent results auditors will be retained for the audit of

results. They will have their unique log-on names, which will be

used to access captured results per voting district and confirm

those results;

• Systems parameters will be set for the management of results

exceptions;

• Where results auditors have confirmed the results, then the

results will undergo systems exceptions testing and if they pass,

then they are transmitted on the results boards;

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Page 36: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Ensuring the Credibility of Elections (…4)

• If captured results fail system exceptions testing, then

they will be forwarded to a senior EC staff member for

investigation and resolution;

• All results slips will be scanned and stored on the

system, with functionality to view them online as may be

required by EC staff, the media and political party

officials;• Political parties and the media will be given access to

EC’s systems for their own verification and self assurance concerning results;

• Complaints raised by parties will be tracked and measured with respect to the length of time it has taken to resolve them. These records will be available online;

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Page 37: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Proclamation Date

• Once the elections have been proclaimed, the voters’

roll as at proclamation date will be used for the

elections;

• An Election Timetable (ET) will be drafted by the EC

and consultations will take place on the ET with

contesting political parties at national level on the day

following the proclamation;

• An ET as finalised by the EC will then be gazetted.

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Page 38: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Timetable (ET)

• An ET will set dates, amongst others for:

– The closing of nomination of candidates and

payments of election deposits;

– Notifications by voters abroad;

– Application dates for Special Votes in the republic;

– Special Voting dates abroad and in the Republic;

and Election Day;

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Page 39: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Special Votes

• Special votes conducted abroad will be transported

back into the Republic and securely stored. Storage

facilities for this purpose will be identified in advance;

• Special votes conducted in the Republic will be kept in

secure facilities identified for that purpose in every

municipality;

• The counting of Special Votes will take place once

voting stations have closed and counting has

commenced.

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Page 40: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Election Day

• Approximately 250 000 staff members will be on duty;

• There will be a national Results Operations Centre and 9

Provincial Operations Centres which will serve as hubs of

electoral activity and reference points for the media, political

parties and the EC;

• Voting station hours will be determined and publicised in

advance;

• Counting will take place immediately after voting has ceased;

• The results compilation process will commence.

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Page 41: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Post-Election Day

• The capturing, verification and transmission of results

will be finalised as soon as possible after Election Day;

• Complaints and/or objections will be considered and

decided upon prior to the declaration of results;

• Results will be announced and seat allocation

undertaken;

• Both the results and allocated seats will gazetted

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Page 42: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

Conclusion

• National and Provincial Elections 2014 mark 20th

anniversary of electoral democracy in South Africa

• Challenges include:

– Closing the voter registration gap (enrolling the

youth);

– Concluding legislative amendments in time;

– Demarcation disputes;

– Tensions and protests within communities; and

– Meaningful presence and participation of party

agents as well as observers.

• The task is in hand.

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Page 43: Preparations for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 13 August 2013 1.

End of Presentation

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