Electoral Commission on international observers' briefing

Briefing of international observers

17 April 2009

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) today briefed election
observers about its preparedness, logistics and voting systems for next week's
national and provincial elections.

The briefing, held at a city centre hotel, was attended by about 100 foreign
observers. Advocate Pansy Tlakula, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the
Commission and Dr Brigalia Bam, Chairperson of the IEC took the observers
through the election process and systems, including a breakdown of facts and
figures.

Some of the facts and figures analysed included; about 200 000 election
officials, 19 726 voting stations and a province by province breakdown of the
23 181 997 voters' on the roll.

Dr Bam praised the observers for their role in elections saying they were
the eyes and ears of any possible irregularities during elections around the
world.

Next week's elections will be watched by 4 900 domestic observers, 355
international observers and 358 diplomats from 61 embassies.

Advocate Tlakula also painted a picture of the political landscape informing
observers that 40 parties will contest the elections – 26 nationally and 14
provincially only.

She also told the observers that the preparations for the elections began 18
months ago with the registration of parties and an election drive to register
new voters, meetings with Party Liaison Committees (PLCs) to discuss various
parties' concerns, civic and voter education as well as the ordering of
electoral material among others.

The CEO explained how the voting process would work with the new
technological systems implemented such as the "Zip-Zip", a hand-held scanner
loaded with the names of the 23 million voters. The "Zip-Zip" helps election
officials to retrieve trends about voters, including their age, gender and even
the time they voted.

Advocate Tlakula also said that in terms of the Electoral Act the results
can only be announced 48 hours after voting stations close in order to provide
political parties with an opportunity to raise objections against the election
results. She urged the observers to attend counting of votes, where party
agents also observe.

The observers were curious about the freedom of the press, special votes and
the counting of overseas votes.

The observers were impressed by the state of readiness of the commission,
particularly the transparency which will result in free and fair elections.

For media queries, please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386

Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
17 April 2009

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