Figuring it out

Up to 2 million fewer votes may be cast in the national and provincial elections on 2 June than in the 1994 polls, which ended the apartheid era. Some opposition politicians claim the shortfall could be 5 million, now the excitement of the 'Uhuru elections' has faded into apathy. They note that government has excluded certain categories of voter. Total eligible voters in 1994 were estimated at 22,709,152, of whom 19,533,498 or 86 per cent voted. Blacks Africans, three-quarters of the 41 million population, had not previously been entitled to vote, so were not on the electoral rolls. Anyone who turned up at any polling station in 1994 could cast a vote with rudimentary identity documents.

Article Tags:
Johan Kriegler, Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela

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