Metadata

South African Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS) 2014: Observers - All provinces

Version
1.0
Resource Type
Dataset
Creator
  • Roberts, Benjamin
  • Struwig, Jare
  • Human Sciences Research Council
Publication Date
2019-03-25
Embargo End Date
2020-03-31
Contributor
  • Human Sciences Research Council (Producer)
Funding Reference
  • Electoral Commission of South Africa
Free Keywords
Schema: UK DATA ARCHIVE - HASSET
CONSIDERATIONS OF THE VOTING STATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS; DISPLAY OF PARTY POSTERS INSIDE VOTING STATIONS; DISTURBANCES IN AND OUTSIDE THE VOTING STATION; FACILITIES AT THE VOTING STATION; IEC PERFORMANCE; MEDIA PRESENCE; PERCEIVED EASE OF LOCATING VOTING STATIONS; PERCEPTION OF WHETHER POLL WAS FREE AND FAIR; POLITICAL PARTY ACTIVITIES AND AGENTS INSIDE THE VOTING STATION; PROFILE OF THE ELECTION OBSERVERS; TYPE OF VOTING STATION STRUCTURE; VOTING STATION SECURITY; VOTING STATION SIGNAGE
Description

  • Abstract

    Description: Topics covered in the questionnaire are: distance to the voting station, queuing time for voters, accessible to persons with disabilities and the elderly, signage and instructions at voting stations, voting procedures inside the voting station, trust in the electoral commission, evaluations of electoral officials, voting procedure for voters with special needs, effectiveness of the electoral commission's voter education campaign, usefulness of information sources, disturbances at voting stations, electoral freeness and fairness. The data set for dissemination contains 82 variables and 184 cases. In terms of the number of voting stations, a 100% realisation rate was achieved. All 300 selected voting stations were therefore visited on Election Day.

    Abstract: The objective of the 2014 Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS) was to determine opinions and perceptions of voters on Election Day. The main intention of the survey was to determine if elections were free and fair. A further aim of the study was to assess the operational efficiency of the Electoral Commission in managing the 2014 national and provincial elections. Three hundred voting stations throughout South Africa were selected using complex sample design. Realising that there were very few election Observers visiting many of the sampled voting stations, the fieldworkers were advised to interview as many election Observers as they could find. The study method comprised a brief (5-minute) face-to-face interview with the election Observers. Since the Electoral Commission was keen to release the survey results together with the official election results (which took place 3 days after the election). The HSRC together with the IEC developed the observer questionnaire. Questions included Profile of the election Observers Type of voting station structure Facilities at the voting station Voting station signage Perceived ease of locating voting stations Voting station security Considerations of the voting stations and procedures for people with special needs Disturbances in and outside the voting station Display of party posters inside voting stations Political party activities and agents inside the voting station Perception of whether poll was free and fair IEC performance Media presence

Temporal Coverage
  • Collection 07 MAY 2014
Geographic Coverage
  • South Africa (ZA)
Sampled Universe
The study was conducted among election Observers in the 2014 Municipal Elections.
Sampling
A complex sample design was used in drawing the sample of voting stations. The design included stratification and a multi-stage sampling procedure. The database of voting stations obtained from the IEC was merged with that of Population Census Enumeration Areas (EAs). The sampling of the voting station was done proportionally to the dominant race type, geo-type and the number of voting stations in a given province. This was to ensure that a nationally representative sample of voting stations was selected and the results of the survey could be properly weighted to the population of legible voters in the country. At the actual voting stations, fieldworkers used random sampling to select voters to ensure a fair representation in terms of gender, race, age, and disability status. In the cases of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the numbers of voting stations were sampled below proportion & given that almost half of the South African registered voters are based in these provinces. Conversely, the number of voting stations in the Northern Cape was over-sampled in order to generate sufficient interviews in that province to facilitate meaningful analysis. Table 1 provides the distribution of voting stations per province and the number of voters interviewed. Realising that there were few election observers visiting many of the sampled voting stations, the fieldworkers were advised to interview as many election observers as they could find. Province Voting Stations Sampled Western Cape 31 Eastern Cape 47 Northern Cape 20 Free State 26 KwaZulu-Natal 49 North West 28 Gauteng 39 Mpumalanga 24 Limpopo 36 Total 300
Time Dimension
  • Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based
    Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based
Collection Mode
  • Face-to-face interview
Availability
Not available
Rights
By accessing the data, you give assurance that The data and documentation will not be duplicated, redistributed or sold without prior approval from the rights holder. The data will be used for scientific research or educational purposes only. The data will only be used for the specified purpose. If it is used for another purpose the additional purpose will be registered. Redundant data files will be destroyed. The confidentiality of individuals/organisations in the data will be preserved at all times. No attempt will be made to obtain or derive information from the data to identify individuals/organisations. The HSRC and the IEC will be acknowledged in all published and unpublished works based on the data according to the provided citation. The HSRC and the IEC will be informed of any books, articles, conference papers, theses, dissertations, reports or other publications resulting from work based in whole or in part on the data and documentation. For archiving and bibliographic purposes an electronic copy of all reports and publications based on the requested data will be sent to the HSRC and the IEC. To offer for deposit into the HSRC Data Collection and the IEC any new data sets which have been derived from or which have been created by the combination of the data supplied with other data. The data team bears no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses. Failure to comply with the End User License may result in sanctions being imposed.
Other

Update Metadata: 2020-06-10 | Issue Number: 72 | Registration Date: 2019-03-26