Election registration for South Africans abroad

THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) will collaborate to register South Africans living outside of the country as voters for the very first time.

This follows the presidential assent to the Electoral Amendment Act No. 18 of 2013 and the publication of amendments to the Regulations on the Registration of Voters late last year.

In terms of the amended regulations, South Africans living outside the country who wish to vote in this year’s national election are required to register in person either in South Africa or at one of South Africa’s 124 Embassies, High Commissions or Consulates-General located in 108 countries.

These South Africans need to be in possession of a valid South African identity document (either a green bar-coded South African ID book, a new smart-card ID or a valid temporary identity certificate) and a valid South African passport to register. South African citizens living outside the country and who are already registered as voters in South Africa do not need to register again.

Applications for registration are now open and take place during normal office hours of the various missions until Friday, 7 February. A list of South African missions is available here.

Provision has also been made for two special registration weekends, on 18 and 19 January and 25 and 26 January 2014, to accommodate those South Africans living abroad who are unable to register at their nearest South African foreign mission during normal working hours.

Notifications of intention to apply for a special vote are made online via the IEC’s website (www.elections.gov.za) using a VEC10 form which will only be available once the President of the Republic has proclaimed the election date.