• VOTER EDUCATION
How to vote
What will you have to do on election day? SPEAK looks at how to vote and what will happen when you go to vote.
This is how it was done in the past, in the whites only elections
The Matla Trust play shows t h a t officials at the voting station will explain t o people how t o vote
Where do you go?
You will have to go to a v6ting station or polling station to vote.
Before the election day, election officials will choose a school, church or community hall in every area to use as a polling station. Before the vot- ing day. they will tell people in communities where they
should go to vote. Remember, you can take your children with you if you have no child- care.
Who will be there?
There will be many people out- side the polling station — those going to vote and those watching to see that things go peacefully.
People from the political parties might also be outside trying for the last lime to make you vote for them. You do not have to speak to them.
Remember, they won't be able to find out who you voted for
— even (hough thev are at the polling station.
Inside the polling station, there will be election officials to help people vote and moni- tors from the political parties.
These monitors are there to make sure the voting is done fairly. They cannot see who you voted for. Your vole is secret.
What happens inside?
1. You will have to show your identity document to one of the election officials. They will check that you are a South African citizen and that you are old enough to vote. You have to be 18 years or older to vote.
2. You will then have to put your hands under a special (ultra violet) lamp. This light
SPEAK * December 1993 • Page 12
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shows if
you have voted already.
3. After putting your hands under the lamp, you will put your hands in an invisible ink.
This ink does not show on your hands. It only shows up under the special lamp. It is to stop people from voting twice.
Remember, this ink is not muti.
Some people might try to tell you that this ink will tell them who you voted for. That is not so. They are only trying to
force you to vote for them.
4. You will then be given a piece of paper called a ballot paper. All the different political parties' names and their sym- bols will be on this paper.
The ballot paper will be taken out
of a book.
Each
paper has a number on it.
The same
VOTER EDUCATION
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Matla Trust
This page is a joint project of
gMATLA TRUST & SPEAK>
An example of what a ballot paper will look like
number is printed in the book on what is called a counterfoil. Your identity document number will be written on the coun- terfoil.
The identity
number will only be checked on the
counterfoil if one of the parties says there
was cheating in the election. They would then have to apply to the Supreme Court, which would check all the bal- lot papers against the counter- foils. This does not mean your vote is not secret. It is only to stop cheating.
5. You will then go into a private area called a voting booth to make your vote. You will gO into this booth alone.
When there, you have to put an X in the box next to the politi- cal party you support.
Remeitiber, do not make any other itiarks on the paper — or else yi>ur vote won't be count- ed.
People who are blind or dis- abled in some way can ask the chief officer at the polling sta- tion to go with them into the
booth to help
them make their vote.
Another person
might also go in to check that this officer
COMPETITION WIN A RADIO!
Answer the question below and you could be the lucky winner of a radio
• Which sign do you put next to the political party you choose to vote for? Is it a • or an X?
Answer Name Address
Code
I agree to abide by the rules of this competition
Signature
Send your entry form to SPEAK/Matla Trust Voter Education Competition,
PO Box 261363, Excom, 2023, South Africa
C o m p e t i t i o n rules: The decision o f the judges is I in.il. This compe- tition is only open lo people living in South Africa. Employees and relatives o f employees o f SPEAK are not allowed to enter. The clos- ing date is 26 January 1994. The winner w i l l he announced in the March issue o f SPEAK.
does put the X next to the party the voter wants.
7. You will then go to put your ballot paper into the vot- ing or ballot box. Each ballot paper will have a stamp on the back of it to prove it is official.
An election officer will check this mark before you put it into the ballot box. They will not be able to see who you voted for.
That is all you have to do to have your say in who you want to rule this country. Remember your vote is secret. If you
notice anything you think is wrong, you should tell one of the election monitors, so they can make sure the voting is free and fair. O
SPEAK • December 1993 • Page 13
