WALLIS AJ [68] That the IEC did not do this in the case of the wards in Tlokwe is apparent from its own investigation. But the limitations of that investigation must also not be overlooked. It dealt only with new registrations in the affected wards between 2000 and February 2014. It covered only 3832 voters. Of those 1040 were definitely registered in the incorrect ward. But 332 additional voters were problematic because the addresses given on their registration forms were so sketchy that it was impossible to say whether they were registered in the correct ward. A number of others were registered in the correct wards but in the wrong voting districts. No information was tendered in regard to other registrations in these wards or their accuracy. [69] What is troubling about this is that there is no explanation of how the incorrect registrations were made. Assume that the addresses given by these voters were inadequate, so that it was unclear in which voting district, and hence in which ward, they should be registered. Why then were they placed in the incorrect wards instead of the correct ones? Was that purely random? It would be surprising if it were. The IEC had conducted voter registration drives in the wards where the by-elections took place. Many of these registrations must have occurred during those registration drives. Were voters automatically registered as falling in those wards? If so, the system adopted lent itself to manipulation because a well-organised political party or group would be able to present as new voters for registration, people who were not in fact qualified to be registered in that particular area and thereby strengthen its own cohort of support in that ward. [70] The absence of an explanation lends credence to the detailed complaints by Mr Kham in regard to the registration process. For example, he complained that among the REC 1 forms furnished to him in response to his request was a bundle entitled “Maricana”. Among these were a number – he did not give the figure but said the bundle was voluminous – with no address other than the word “Maricana”. This is an informal settlement falling outside ward 13 but all the voters whose forms contained this address were registered in ward 13. Some of the forms in this bundle did have addresses, but the addresses given were all in ward 17. However all these 37