IEC ready for final voter registration weekend
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is ready to receive millions of South Africans who will at the weekend take to voting stations to register or confirm their details as the commission prepares for the national and provincial elections later this year.
The IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said 22 925 voting stations will be open for registration at the weekend between 8 am and 5 pm on both days.
Mamabolo said this weekend’s voter registration will allow new voters to register and all existing voters to update and check their address and registration details.
“Each voting station will be stocked with registration forms in all official languages, maps of the ward to help locate voters’ place of residence and copies of the current voters’ roll, along with various stationery items and signboards.
“Each voting station will also be equipped with a ‘zip-zip’ ID scanner, which contains the voters’ roll and helps to link each visitor to the voting station and ward,” he said.
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Each voting station will be staffed with about three registration officials, who will assist voters swiftly and efficiently.
“There are currently 26 million registered voters on the national common voters’ roll and the Electoral Commission hopes at least one million additional voters will be added during this weekend’s registration drive,” he said.
Mamabolo and IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini reiterated that the youth was the biggest section of society that needed to be urged to go to voting stations at the weekend.
Despite this weekend being the last general voter registration drive, the IEC will next month have special registration campaigns at tertiary education campuses to help boost youth registrations.
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“The Electoral Commission is 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,” said Mamabolo.
Registered voters can also do this online via the ‘Click, Check and Confirm’ facility on the Electoral Commission’s website at www.elections.org.za.
