STASSA report reveals only marginal error in filling out of Section 24A
The report was based on an analysis done during the past elections.
Controversy surrounding the filling out of the Section 24 A form, arose in the province during the election.
The IEC’s provincial spokesman, Sibusiso Nkosi, said at the time that filling out a Section 24A form when you vote at a station you are not registered at, is the law.
“But through error or omission or the fact that they might have forgotten sometimes this is not done. It is the presiding officer’s responsibility to ensure that staff are trained to ensure this and where it is neglected, the individuals are subjected to internal processes and removed or demoted. We ensure that it does not go unpunished.”
Nkosi added that not filling out the form did not make one’s vote illegal.
In a recent press release by Statistics South Africa (STATSSA) the final report of the Statistician-General into the use of Section 24A votes at a sample of voting stations has revealed negligible risks of double voting.
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The analysis compared the occurrence of Section 24A votes in a voting district to the number of Section 24A votes in the ward. If the Section 24A votes in a voting district were significantly higher than instances of Section 24A votes in the ward this would be flagged as an indicator of potential deviation from the voting process.
“The IEC is satisfied that the use of Section 24A voting was consistent with previous elections and showed a significant deviation from the pattern in only a tiny number of voting stations in the sample (13 out of 1020 or 1,27 percent). Even in these isolated instances, the IEC is satisfied that the trend compares favourably with previous voting patterns in voting stations with low registration levels,” the press release said.
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