8 April 2004

By Mogale City Reporter

ACCORDING to the Independent Electoral Commission's Gauteng office, ballot papers have already been issued to all nine provinces and if all goes according to plan, voting stations countrywide will open at 7am on 14 April.

With 16 966 voting stations across the country, and a total of 215 412 officials to oversee the voting process, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has assured voters that ballot papers will be under 24-hour security to help facilitate free and fair elections.

Persons who cannot visit the voting stations on Election Day due to physical infirmity, disability and pregnancy were expected to apply for a special vote, and IEC officials will collect their votes on 12 April and 13 April.

Voting officials and members of security services doing election duty on Election Day will also be able to cast their votes on 12 April and 13 April.

Counting will commence immediately after voting at every voting station, and results will be captured at Municipal Electoral Offices.

On Election Day, voters are required to produce their green bar-coded identity documents at voting stations, where their names will be checked against the Voters' Roll.

Voters are then issued with two ballot papers, one to elect members of the National Assembly, the other to elect members of the relevant provincial legislatures. Each ballot paper has a list of all registered political parties contesting the elections.

On the ballot sheet, alongside each party name is the photograph of its leader, the party's logo and a block in which voters can make their mark. Each voter enters a private booth to cast his or her vote and is allowed to make only one mark on each ballot paper for a party of his or her choice.

Only a tick or a cross is acceptable in the appropriate box next to the chosen party. A mark anywhere else will spoil the ballot paper and that vote will be nullified.

Voters are not obligated to vote for the same party for the National Assembly and their province's legislature, though they can do so if they wish. After making their choice, voters place their ballot papers in a sealed ballot box and leave the station.

To prevent one person from voting more than once, indelible ink is applied to the thumbs of those who have voted.

For any election queries or to check if you are registered on the voters' roll, log on towww.elections.org.za or call the voter registration call centre on 0800 118 000.