15 voters charged with registration fraud
The Electoral Commission has established that incidents of possible fraudulent voter registration took place in Ward 59, in Ekurhuleni.
The information came to light during the Electoral Commission’s targeted communication and registration exercise that usually takes place ahead of a by-election to fill a vacant ward seat.
The commission had reason to suspect that there were at least 19 fraudulent registrations or misrepresentations of material information to facilitate registration in the voting districts and a ward where the applicants are not ordinarily resident.
To satisfy itself, the Electoral Commission instituted a preliminary assessment of these impugned registrations. This assessment established that 15 applicants misrepresented address details in that the applicants are unknown to homeowners/occupiers of the homes of the implicated addresses.
To this end, the Electoral Commission has laid criminal charges against the identified individuals for possible fraudulent registrations in terms of Section 89(1) read in conjunction with Section 97 and 98(b) of the of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998.
The Electoral Commission would like to take this opportunity to remind voters that it is a criminal offence to register and vote in a ward in which they are not ordinarily resident.
For more information, contact your local municipal electoral officer during office hours. Contact details for municipal electoral offices are available on the IEC website at www.elections.org.za under Contact Us.
