DA puts pressure on IEC

2003-04-27 22:15

Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to conduct a full-scale voter registration process before next year's general election.

DA leader Tony Leon said at a Freedom Day rally in Tembisa near Kempton Park that millions of eligible voters were not registered.

"At least 5.6 million eligible voters are not registered, according to the Independent Electoral Commission," he said.

"And many of us risk losing our vote because the system of voter registration is not working properly."

Leon said the voter registration process was riddled with problems.

"Thousands of South African voters are being disenfranchised because they have moved to new areas. Others do not register because they live far away from a voter registration facility and cannot afford transport, or because they cannot leave work to register during office hours."

He said the IEC's plan to conduct two weekends of voter registration in November this year and February next year was not enough.

The commission would have to register over a million people a day on those two weekends to meet its goal of 24 million registered voters.

Leon said a far more extensive programme was needed.

"The IEC needs to conduct a full-scale, across-the-board re-registration of voters before next year's general election.

"Second, money must be made available to municipalities so that they can provide registration facilities that are close to where people live and accessible throughout the year.

"And third, other organisations, such as political parties, must be allowed to register voters as well."

Leon said the voter registration period should last from November to February, otherwise many South Africans would be unable to exercise their political rights."

- SAPA