Voting statistics by the numbers

MBOMBELA - Here is some insight into elections past and present through the numbers that define them.

According to the 2022 Census, the Ehlanzeni District has a total population of 2 270 897. Of these,

840 309 people have registered to vote in the district. This accounts for only 37% of the Ehlanzeni population.

However, if you remove the population numbers for people up to the age of 19, the percentage of the population in Ehlanzeni that has registered to vote rises to 60.34%. This is of course only for people 20 years and older, but it gives a good indication that the majority of our locals are eager to make their mark next week.

Further, let’s take a quick look at how the last elections in Ehlanzeni in 2019 panned out. In the provincial elections, there was a 63.89% turnout of registered voters. There were 6 956 spoilt votes. The City of Mbombela had the best voter turnout of 69.39% and Bushbuckridge Local Municipality had the worst (55.71%). The top three parties were the ANC (76.77%), the DA (8.85%) and the EFF (7.94%).

For the national elections, the voter turnout was 65.91%, with 7 457 spoilt votes. The City of Mbombela again had the best voter turnout (71.32%), while Bushbuckridge had the worst again (57.73%). The top three parties in the national elections in Ehlanzeni were the ANC (76.85%), the EFF (8.65%) and the DA (7.18%).

Here are some quick numbers and facts about the registered voters in Ehlanzeni:

• The largest age demographic registered to vote is 30-39, with 27.52% of the total in Ehlanzeni

• 56.96% of registered Ehlanzeni voters are women, totalling 478 618

• With 840 309 voters, Ehlanzeni has the most in Mpumalanga compared to other districts

• Thaba Chweu has the least registered voters at 53 495, and the municipality with the most is City of Mbombela with 338 631

• Some 19 667 people in the 18-19 age group have registered to vote in Ehlanzeni, 2.34% of the district total.