by Section 65 A of the Constitution. The IEC is mandated to ensure that elections are conducted efficiently, properly, freely and fairly. 1. During the period under review, the Electoral Act was amended to make provision for the names of voters on the roll to be arranged alphabetically. Furthermore, the IEC adopted several administrative initiatives, such as the creation of Democratic Youth Clubs (DYC) in secondary schools; the implementation of the Youth Ambassadors (YA) programme with focus on youth out of schools; development of braille instructions for the braille literate to read for themselves so as to enhance the privacy of vote casting; introduction of Helpdesk at each polling station to assist voters with reporting to the rightful polling station as well as the validity and authenticity of the National Identification Cards; use of tally sheets to facilitate speedy counting of ballots cast. Such initiatives led to an increase of the number of registered young voters for the 2014 General elections from 31% to 47%. The IEC continues to use various fora, such as dikgotla, workshops, fairs, and school visits etc, for stakeholder consultations and electoral information dissemination. The Population and Housing Census of 2011 estimated the population at 2,024,904 persons. The boundaries of the existing constituencies were revised in accordance with Sections 63, 64 and 65 of the Constitution. Although the total number of constituencies didn’t increase, the boundaries changed significantly due to the growth and other dynamics in the population. The exercise also led to some constituencies being renamed29.Following the delimitation exercise, the IEC embarked on the establishment of polling districts (within constituencies) for purposes of Local Government elections. Although the number of polling districts remained unchanged at 490, some polling district boundaries and names changed. As a result, the number of polling stations increased from 2288 to 2606 locally and 26 to 38 externally. The increase was aimed at enhancing accessibility of electoral services to the electorate and other stakeholders. 29 On the work of the IEC, see the Report the Minister for Presidential and public administration on the General Elections, October 2014. 47 | P a g e