Voter Rolls, 1925-1931
The Voter Rolls recently made available through the familysearch.org website covers the period 1925 to 1931. The records are not currently indexed or searchable, but the films are available to view.
The structure of the voting system is divided into the following:
- Year of the voter registration
- Electoral division, e.g., Beaconsfield
- Primary or supplementary voter register
- Fiscal division, e.g., Barkly West, Kimberley, etc.
- Polling district, e.g., PO. Windsorton Road (in Kimberley fiscal district), P.O. Sydney-on-Vaal (in the Barkley West fiscal district)
The films available cover the primary voter registers for 1925, 1927, 1929, and 1931, with supplementary registers for 1926, 1928, and 1930.
The following indexes have been created for each of the voter registers, grouped into the four provinces, Cape, Free State, Transvaal, and Natal. Please keep in mind that the indexes have sometimes been scanned out of order, and you may need to navigate back and forth to view the images in order. Always check the page number that is normally at the top of the image in each voter roll page.
Each voter roll contained different information and levels of detail.
1925, 1927, and 1929 are grouped by the polling district, alphabetically sorted by surname, and contain men only. The following details are captured in the voter roll:
- Surname and first name
- Residence and Postal Address
- Trade, Profession, or other Occupation
- Qualification ("W", when earning wages, "S", when earning a salary, "O" denoting occupation)
- Employer and workplace were known
- Race distinction ("E" denotes European or White, "N" denotes native, "A" denotes Indian or other Asiatics, and "C" denotes mixed and other coloured races)
1931 is grouped by the polling district, alphabetically sorted by surname, and separated into a Male and Female voter roll.
The following details are captured in the male voter roll:
- Surname and first name
- Residence and Postal Address
- Trade, Profession, or other Occupation
- Qualification ("W", when earning wages, "S", when earning a salary, "O" denoting occupation)
- Employer and workplace
- Race distinction ("E" denoting European or White, "N" denotes native, "A" denotes Indian or other Asiatics, and "C" denotes mixed and other coloured races)
The following details are captured in the female voter roll:
- Surname and first name
- Maiden surname
- Residence and Postal Address
- Trade, Profession, or other Occupation
The South Africa Act, 1909, had provided the guardrails for how the electoral voting system will work. The voter roles covers the elections that were held on 19 June 1924, 12 June 1929, 17 May 1933, and the election held on 18 May 1938.
The number of electoral divisions for each of the key elections was:
- 19 June 2024: Cape 51, Natal 17, Free State 17, Transvaal 50, and 135 in total
- 12 June 1929: Cape 58, Natal 17, Free State 18, Transvaal 55, and 148 in total
- 17 May 1933: Cape 61, Natal 16, Free State 16, Transvaal 57, and 150 in total
- 18 May 1938: Cape 59, Natal 16, Free State 15, Transvaal 60, and 150 in total
Sources
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