First votes of the 2014 national elections to be cast today

The first votes in the 2014 national elections will be cast today as voters abroad begin voting at South African missions around the world.

Some 406 South Africans who successfully registered to vote at the South African High Commission in Auckland, New Zealand will be the first to vote when polling opens at 7am on April 30 – which is 9pm tonight South African time.

They will be followed by more than 26 000 voters who applied successfully to cast their ballots at 116 missions around the world over the next 33 hours.

The final votes will be cast in Los Angeles where polls will close at 6am South African time on Thursday.

All voting stations in 123 cities have reported ready for voting in the national elections having received all materials and training.

Once completed, the ballots from each voting station will be collected in secure, sealed bags and transported to Pretoria where they will be counted for inclusion in the national results.

The city with the largest number of voters is London where 9 863 voters applied to cast their votes.

The city with the smallest number is Bissau, Guinea Bissau where just a single voter applied.

The top 10 largest overseas voting stations are:

•  London (9 863)

•  Dubai (1 539)

•  Canberra (1 243)

•  Kinshasa (773)

•  The Hague (667)

•  New York (604)

•  Doha (557)

•  Dublin (466)

•  Khartoum (458)

Responding to concerns that South Africans abroad had not been adequately informed of the process to apply for overseas votes, chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya said the Electoral Commission had worked closely with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in promoting overseas voting among eligible voters.

“Electoral prescripts provide that all registered voters who are registered in voting districts in the Republic, as well as those registered against the international segment of the voters’ roll must notify the chief electoral officer of their intention to vote at the mission at which they intend voting within 15 days of the proclamation of the election.

“This period ended on the 12 March 2014,” Moepya explained.

The Electoral Commission had in conjunction with DIRCO run a dedicated communication campaign aimed at registered citizens who are ordinarily resident outside of the Republic.

Among the initiatives undertaken to inform voters were:

•  Press releases explaining the process, issued in South Africa and by missions abroad.

•  Emails were provided to heads of missions to send to South Africans registered abroad advising them of the process.

•  Pamphlets and posters explaining the process provided to each South African mission for distribution to eligible voters.

• Mailing lists and the websites of Brand South Africa and the Homecoming Revolution were used to communicate with potential voters abroad.

•  An email reminder (where applicable) was sent by the IEC to all voters who had registered abroad and had provided email addresses of the need to complete and submit a VEC10 by March 12.

•  A series of online advertisements via FaceBook, Google and on popular South African sites were posted reminding all voters who planned to vote abroad that they needed to complete and submit a VEC 10 before March 12.

•  The IEC website contained clear factsheets and information on the process.

•  A number was established for overseas voters to contact the IEC Call Centre.

• Information issued by the IEC