Applications for special votes for the local government elections are now open and will close on October 4.
Special votes will be cast on October 30 and 31.
Applicants who are unable to visit voting stations due to infirmity will be visited at homes or places of confinement while all other successful candidates will cast special votes at the voting stations.
According to the IEC, by law, you can apply for a special vote if you can’t travel to your voting station because you are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant or can’t vote at your voting station on election day.
How to apply for a special vote
If you can’t vote at your voting station on election day, you can apply to cast a special vote at your voting station on the predetermined date only, as per the election timetable, in one of the following ways:
• Using our secured online application form
• By SMSing your identity number to 32249 (R1 per SMS). (For special vote at a voting station only.)
• By visiting the local IEC office in Benoni at the Benoni Municipal Building, ground floor, corner of Elston and Tom Jones streets and submitting a MEC 35 form. Forms can only be hand-delivered (no emails or faxes accepted), but someone else can deliver your completed form on your behalf.
• You will receive an SMS notifying you of the outcome once your application has been processed, but you can also check the status of your special vote application online.
If you can’t travel to the voting station where you are registered because you are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant, voting officials will visit you at the address that you indicated in your application for a home visit and allow you to vote.
For the online application form visit the IEC website at www.elections.org.za
What happens when I cast a special vote?
If your application for a special vote is successful, you will vote as follows:
• Your thumbnail is marked with indelible ink.
• You receive the relevant ballot paper(s).
• You mark the ballot(s) in secret, place and seal the ballot(s) in an unmarked envelope.
• The unmarked envelope is placed in another envelope that is marked with your name, ID number, and voting district (VD) number. The use of two envelopes is to ensure the secrecy of your ballot (the outer envelope is discarded before counting).
• IEC officials take the envelope and place it in a secure ballot box for special votes.
• Your name is marked off the Voters’ Roll with “SV” to indicate that you have cast a special vote.
(Information: IEC)
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