Here’s how prison inmates will register to vote in this year’s elections

As the nation gears up for the upcoming election, South African citizens are preparing to exercise their right to vote.

Every eligible South African citizen is required to register with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to participate in the democratic process.

While the registration process is straightforward for the majority of the population, it poses a unique challenge for those who are incarcerated.

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Reaching out to families

Since offenders do not keep their identity documents in their possession, the IEC has said that it has started the process of inmate registration by reaching out to the families of offenders. It is doing this with the help of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).

The family members are requested to bring the identity documents of the offenders to the correctional centres.

The IEC said it would be accepting green-barcoded IDs, Smartcard IDs or temporary identification certificates.

Inmates moved to other facilities

The IEC will also make provisions to register inmates who were moved from their hometowns or areas where their families live to correctional facilities far away.

“Correctional Centres will now accept IDs from inmates who are serving sentences in faraway towns or provinces.

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“These IDs will be sent to the specific facilities where the inmates are currently held. The Department of Correctional Services has assured that they will take necessary steps to see that these IDs are secure,” the IEC said.

Prison registration

The prisoners will still have to register in person. But at least they will have access to their IDs to do so.

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According to the IEC, the DCS will hand over the IDs collected to the prisoners while they are at the registration desks set up within the prison. The prisoners will then be manually registered. After this, their IDs will be returned to their families.