Gauteng one of the leading provinces with the highest number of registered voters
48 different parties to vote for in the upcoming elections.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/03/iec-1.jpg)
Voters in the upcoming elections will face the biggest choice yet in a national election after a record number of 48 political parties met the legal requirements to contest this year’s elections.
This is 19 more parties than those which contested the 2014 national elections.
ALSO READ:
Applications for special votes to open soon, says IEC
The parties which will contest the national elections (in alphabetical order) are:
African Christian Democratic Party
African Congress Of Democrats
African Content Movement
African Covenant
African Democratic Change
African Independent Congress
African National Congress
African People’s Convention
African Renaissance Unity
African Security Congress
African Transformation Movement
Afrikan Alliance Of Social Democrats
Agang South Africa
Al Jama-ah
Alliance For Transformation For All
Azanian People’s Organisation
Better Residents Association
Black First Land First
Capitalist Party Of South Africa
Christian Political Movement
Compatriots Of South Africa
Congress Of The People
Democratic Alliance
Democratic Liberal Congress
Economic Emancipation Forum
Economic Freedom Fighters
Forum 4 Service Delivery
Free Democrats
Front Nasionaal/Front National
Good
Independent Civic Organisation Of South Africa
Inkatha Freedom Party
International Revelation Congress
Land Party
Minority Front
National Freedom Party
National Peoples Ambassadors
National People’s Front
Pan Africanist Congress Of Azania
Patriotic Alliance
People’s Revolutionary Movement
Power Of Africans Unity
Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party
South African Maintenance And Estate Beneficiaries Association
South African National Congress Of Traditional Authorities
United Democratic Movement
Vryheidsfront Plus
Women Forward.
The deadline also saw a new record number of parties contesting all provincial elections with the largest number of parties contesting Gauteng (36) and the smallest number contesting the Northern Cape (21).
Furthermore, 26 756 898 million voters are eligible to cast their votes in the national and provincial elections following the certification of the voters’ roll.
The voters’ roll was certified and published on the Electoral Commission website earlier this week following the publication of the provisional voters’ roll for scrutiny and objection.
Digital copies of the voters’ roll are also being provided to all political parties which will contest the elections.
Since its inception ahead of the 1999 national and provincial elections, the voters’ roll has shown steady growth of over 47 per cent and contains the highest number of registered voters to date, recording an increase of 1 366 748 voters since 2014.
Registered voters over the past national and provincial elections:
• 1999-18.17 million
• 2004-20.67 million
• 2009-23.18 million
• 2014-25.39 million
• 2019- 26.74 million
Of the 26.74 million registered voters, 14 716 879 are women (55 per cent) which is four per cent above of the demographic split of the South African population according to Statistics South Africa (based on 2018 Midyear Population Estimates).
The provinces with the highest number of registered voters are Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
In terms of age, the biggest category of voters is those aged 30 – 39 years old (6 685 472) which represents 24.99 per cent of the roll.
Only those voters whose names appear on the certified voters’ roll are eligible to vote in the May 8 elections.
Voters must take their ID document (either a green bar-coded ID, a smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate) with them when they go to vote at their voting station.