South African Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS) 2009: Voters - All provinces

Description:
This data set contains responses of South African legible voters in the 2009 National elections citizens aged 18 years and older.

In terms of the number of voting stations, a 100% realisation rate was achieved. All 400 selected voting stations were therefore visited on Election Day. The number of voters interviewed was 13 882 from the expected 14,000 which represented 99% response rate and the data set contains 55 variables.

The questionnaire questions included the distance traveled to the voting station, means of transport utilised, time spent in the voting queue, perception of IEC officials' competence, and perception of the freeness and fairness of the election.
Abstract:
The objective of the 2009 Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS) -Voters 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 2009 National elections.

Four hundred voting stations throughout South Africa were selected using complex sample design. Around 50 randomly selected voters were interviewed at each of the 400 voting stations. The prime target population was therefore individuals aged 18+ who reside in South Africa and who were registered to vote in the 2009 National Elections-and voted. As voters exited these voting stations they were interviewed. The study method comprised a brief (5-minute) face-to-face interview.

The HSRC together with the IEC developed the voter questionnaire. Questions included the distance travelled to the voting station, means of transport utilised, time spent in the voting queue, perception of IEC officials’ competence, and perception of the freeness and fairness of the election.