Survey finds Local Government Elections ‘free and fair’
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) sampled 12 000 voters from 300 voting stations across the country.
AN interim election satisfaction survey (ESS) assessment has overwhelmingly determined that the 2021 Local Government Elections were free and fair.
The survey was conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).
The HSRC was commissioned by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to conduct two studies, a Voter Participation Survey (VPS) between September and October, and a second survey conducted on Election Day.
In the report, the council said voters provided an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ evaluation of the management performance of the Electoral Commission and its officials at voting stations.
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“An overwhelming majority of sampled voters (95%) feel the election procedures were free. These voter evaluations point firmly to the continued integrity of elections in the country,” said the HSRC’s Developmental, Capable and Ethical State divisional head, Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller.
Key among its findings was that 68% of voters took less than 15 minutes to reach their voting stations, with 22% taking between 16 to 30 minutes. Only 7% took between 31 and 60 minutes, and 3% longer than an hour.
On average, 77% of voters waited less than 15 minutes in the queue before voting, 15% took between 16 and 30 minutes, while only 7% waited longer.
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