South African Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS) 2011: Observers - All provinces

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 76 variables and 194 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 2011 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 2011 municipal 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. 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