#IMadeMyMark – 43% of Limpopo’s voters did not vote in the 2019 elections
With voter turnout at 56%, the lowest in the country, Limpopo's representation in the Legislature dropped by one seat.
LIMPOPO – With voter turnout at 56%, the lowest in the country, Limpopo’s representation in the Legislature dropped by one seat. This represents a decline in voter turnout of 4,3%, according to Nkaro Mateta, IEC Commissioner in the province. It also means that 43% of registered voters did not turn up to vote in the province.
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According to Mateta, the voter turnout of several municipalities such as Collins Chabane, Blouberg, Lepelle Nkumpi, Elias Mogale and Ephraim Motsoaledi for instance, was below 50%. She said the IEC wanted to find out and understand why registered voters do not exercise their right to vote, and then establish interventions.
At Vyeboom in the Vuwani area the voting percentage at two of the voting stations just reached 1,44% (only ten voters voted) and 1,75%, where only 11 voters voted. Other voting stations in the area, however, reached a 69,49% and 69,11 % turnout. Mateta ascribed it to interventions by traditional leaders who encouraged people to vote.
The ANC won the election, with 75,49% of the cast votes, followed by the EFF with 14,43% of the votes.
This percentage is the highest percentage that the ANC achieved in all of the provinces, however, the ANC’s vote dropped from 78,97% in 2014 and the EFF increased their vote from 10,27 % in 2014. The DA’s support also decreased from 6,6% to 5,4%, but the Freedom Front Plus increased their support from 0,67% in 2014 to 1,42%, thus gaining their first seat in the Legislature.
The province yielded a total of 38 000 spoiled ballot papers. Thirty-four parties contested the national election, but only four will have members in the Legislature. The remaining 30 parties lost their deposits of R45 000, which will be forfeited to the National Treasury.
The Legislature will comprise 38 representatives of the ANC, seven from the EFF, three DA members and one Freedom Front Plus member.
The votes of some 140 voting stations in the province were selected to be analysed to check for double voting. The outcomes will be announced by the Statistician-General. Some 9,24% of votes cast were special votes, which is in line with the previous election.
Initially, 18 cases were investigated by the police, and they are still busy with some. A man tried to vote using the ID numbers of deceased people, but he was arrested, as was another one for destroying unused ballot papers. The IEC has seven days to solve problems, disputes and complaints with regards to election results and processes.
Mateta mentioned that 11% of registered voters used the internet to register in the province.
