Please find attached a soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Adrian Roos MP
The hiding of parts of an identity (ID) number on the voters roll supplied to stakeholders with an oversight role is an assault on democracy.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) agrees that personal information on the voters’ roll should not be available to simply anyone without a valid reason. However, the challenge comes with stakeholders that have a legitimate need for this data to check the validity of the voters’ roll.
This ability is being removed by the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill which proposes hiding certain digits of the ID number of voters from political parties, independent candidates, investigative journalists and researchers that use this data.
These stakeholders have their own historical voter data and do not use the voters’ roll data for marketing but to check for voter registration fraud. When the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act comes in to force on 1 July 2021 all of these entities will be subject to the same personal data protection rules as anyone else holding personal information including sanctions for abuse of such data.
Electoral registration fraud is a reality in South Africa. Apart from the infamous Tlokwe case, a practical example of why it is so important to have the full ID number is from the 2016 local government election when there was a suspicion of registration fraud at a voting district in Johannesburg. It was only by using the ID numbers to trace where the newly registered voters had come from by comparing to previous voters rolls that it was uncovered that all the new voters came from the same settlement outside of the voting district. The Electoral Commission confirmed this as a case of voter registration fraud.
Without the full ID number it would not be possible to track this kind of fraud.
The Electoral Commission argues that where such fraud is suspected then the full ID numbers could be provided. However, to go through 22 300 voting stations manually to detect possible fraud, motivate and apply for the data not knowing which data from other voting districts to ask for is impractical and invalidates this proposal.
The POPI Act specifically requires the removal of unnecessary impediments to the free flow of information, including personal information, where the constitutional values of democracy and openness are at stake. The Act further goes on to state that its provisions must be interpreted in a manner that does not prevent any public or private body from exercising or performing its powers, duties and functions in terms of the law.
European countries have some of the strictest applications of personal information privacy law in the world and yet do not provide for voters’ roll data to be witheld from those performing oversight over the electoral process.
The DA will propose that stakeholders be required to submit a plan to the Electoral Commission indicating how the personal information on the voters’ roll will be protected in line with the requirements of the POPI Act, and that this be required of all relevant stakeholders given access to the full voters’ roll.
Our vote is a most precious right and the Democratic Alliance cannot support legislation that threatens the integrity of our voting system.
Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.