Description: The data set contains information regarding the identity document survey that was done for the South African Electoral Committee (IEC) during 1998.

The file contains 50 variables and 23 577 cases. Abstract: The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), was established under conditions of Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa during 1998. A common voters' roll needed to be generated to ensure free and fair elections. All voters should be in possession of a green bar-coded identity document (ID) if they wanted to register as a voter and if they wanted to vote in the 1999 election.

The HSRC was requested by the IEC and Department of Home Affairs to undertake a study in 1998 to ascertain which South African identity documents potential voters possessed for the purposes of election planning. Knowledge of the requirement of a green bar-coded ID to vote and voter intention was also investigated.

Face-to-face interview

National population: Adults (aged 17 and older).

A countrywide national sample was drawn to ensure a representative sample of respondents. The primary sampling units were the roughly 40 000 enumerator areas (EAs) that were demarcated by the Central Statistical service for the 1996 Census. 926 EAs were sampled of which 891 were included in the survey, 35 EAs could not be accessed. This was due to inadequate information on the location of the EA, inaccessibility of the area or refusals.

Ten visiting points were randomly selected in a systematic way within each EA. Every person aged 17 years and older at the visiting point had to be interviewed, irrespective of the number of households at a visiting point. 9 859 Households were visited and 23 577 respondents 17 years and older were interviewed.