Close to 13 million ‘eligible voters’ failed to cast a ballot in 2014!
About 73.43% of all registered voters took part in the 2014 South African General Elections down from 76% in 2009. Notably, only 58% (18,402,497 votes) of eligible voters (South African’s of voting age 31,434,035) took part in the election, down from 59% in 2009.
That makes the NO! VOTE the majority vote, once again, with 42%.
42% of the people eligible to vote said something along the lines of ‘Vote, what for!’
The ANC received 62.15% of the 58% or 36.04% of all eligible voters, votes.
About 13 million people eligible to vote either did not register to vote, about 6 million, or did register but did not vote 6.8 million.
Some might attribute this to voter apathy and some may see it as part of a boycott of an unjust system. I suggest that people choosing not to vote because they deem no candidate worthy of the trouble is indeed a vote and a voice that needs counting.
Do you have a story or opinion to share, please make contact and I’ll see what I can do to get your opinion heard.