Register to vote
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has announced the dates for its second and final voter registration weekend for the 2019 national and provincial elections.
The country’s 22 932 voting stations will open from 8am to 5pm on January 26 to 27 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to update and check their registration details. Chairperson of the Commission Glen Mashinini announced the dates at the media conference in Centurion last Wednesday.
Regarding the voter registration for the 2019 elections, the IEC explained there are currently 26.1 million registered voters on the national common voters’ roll. Mashinini said it was his hope that at least one million voters will be added to the voters’ roll ahead of the 2019 elections.
The IEC is also hopeful that voters who are already registered will use the opportunity to visit their voting station to check their registration and specifically to confirm and update their address details. This forms part of the ongoing drive to ensure the voters’ roll is ready for the elections in line with the 2016 order of the Constitutional Court.
Over the past two years, the IEC has added over 13 million addresses to the voters’ roll through a variety of initiatives, bringing the total number of voters with addresses on the voters’ roll to 21.4 million (82 per cent) from just 8.4 million (32 per cent) in March 2016.
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All South Africa citizens aged 16 and older in possession of an official ID document can register as voters (although only those who are at least 18 years old on voting day may vote).
Voters should take a copy of their barcoded ID book, smart card ID or temporary ID certificate when they go to register in the voting district in which they ordinarily reside.
When registering, voters will need to provide their address or a description of where they live to allow the IEC to place them on the correct segment of the voters’ roll, documentation or proof of address is not required.
Voter registration will also be conducted in January in correctional centres around the country to allow prisoners to exercise their right to vote. For voting purposes, prisoners are regarded as being registered to vote in the voting district in which their prison is located.
Family members of those who are incarcerated in correctional facilities are requested to deliver their identity documents to them ahead of this registration drive. In terms of the Constitution, the term of the current National Assembly and provincial legislatures ends on May 6, 2019, and elections must be held within 90 days thereafter.
This means the elections must be held between May 7 and August 5, 2019. The President recently indicated his intention to proclaim elections before the end of May.
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