Last chance for voters to register in April
Voter registration continues until the election date is proclaimed by the National Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
THE Electoral Commission held its registration weekend throughout the country on 5 to 6 March in preparation for the 2016 local government elections.
The Electoral Commission’s communications officer, Thabani Ngwira, said, “The Electoral Commission in KwaZulu-Natal is happy to report that the registration weekend went smoothly except in a very few areas that reported protests, which resulted in voting stations’ delayed opening.”
The commission went into the registration weekend with the hope of getting one million people to register, check and update their registration details on the voters’ roll.
Provincial registration statistics show that 864 295 voters visited voting stations to register, re-register and or update their details.
Of the almost one million voters that visited the stations in KwaZulu-Natal, 166 112 were voters who registered for the first time, new voters. The highest number of first-time registrations came from youth between the ages of 20 and 29, which recorded 77 388 first-time registrations.
“This is the group which was a priority for the commission and we had concentrated most of our outreach activities on this group,” Ngwira said.
Despite long queues that were experienced in some of the busiest voting stations largely on Sunday and the flood arrival of voters towards the close of voting stations, the commission was pleased that they were able to register all voters.
“We further appreciate the patience of voters who waited in these queues and when we also had delays with the supply of registration forms which were depleted in some stations on Sunday,” said Ngwira.
Voter registration continues until the election date is proclaimed by the National Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
Voters must visit municipal offices to register and update their address details at municipal offices, which are open from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
The commission has announced an opportunity for those who need to register and update their particulars, the second registration weekend will be held on 9 and 10 April.
SMS your ID number to 32810 to check your registration status or visit www.elections.org.za.
