The chief electoral officer, Mr Mosotho Moepya has certified the voters’ roll for the 2016 municipal elections, paving the way for 26 333 3535 voters to cast their ballots on 3 August.
The voters’ roll contains 2 678 307 more voters (11.3 per cent) than in the previous municipal elections in 2011 and a 42.5 per cent increase in the number of voters since the first municipal elections using a voters’ roll in 2000. It is also 943 203 more (3.7 per cent) than were on the voters’ roll for the 2014 national and provincial elections.
The voters’ roll contains about 77 per cent of all eligible citizens of voting age based on population estimates provided by Statistics SA. In line with population trends and previous elections, around 55 per cent of the voters (14.47 million) are women compared to 45 per cent men (11.87 million). Gauteng has the most voters with 6.2 million certified voters followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 5.4 million, the Eastern Cape with 3.3 million and the Western Cape with 3 million. Around 69 per cent of all voters are located in these provinces.
