The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is pleased to announce the dates for its second and final voter registration weekend for the 2019 national and provincial elections.

According to the spokesperson, Kate Bapela, the country’s 22 932 voting stations will open from 08:00 to 17:00 on Saturday 26 January and Sunday 27 January 2019 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to update and check their registration details.

Regarding the voter registration for next year’s elections, the IEC said there are currently 26.1 million registered voters on the national common voters’ roll and the chairperson, Glen Mashinini said he hoped that at least one million voters would be added to the voters’ roll ahead of the 2019 elections.

‘The IEC also hopes that voters who are already registered will use the opportunity to visit their voting station to check their registration, 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 several 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.

‘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),’ said Bapela.

She added that voters should take a copy of their bar-coded ID book, smart card ID or temporary ID certificate to 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.

However, documentation or proof of address is not required.

Voter registration to be conducted in correctional centres

‘Voter registration will also be conducted in correctional centres around the country in January, to allow prisoners to exercise their right to vote. For voting purposes, prisoners are registered to vote in the voting district where their prison is located. Family members of those in correctional facilities must deliver their identity documents to them ahead of this registration drive,’ she pleaded.

Regarding the Constitution, the term of the current National Assembly and provincial legislatures ends on 6 May 2019 and elections must be held within 90 days after that. This means the elections must take place between 7 May and 5 August 2019.

‘The President recently indicated his intention to proclaim elections before the end of May next year but is expected to announce the exact date sometime in the future.

‘Registered voters can visit the Electoral Commission website (www.elections.org.za) to check their current registration details and voting station location. They can also SMS their ID number to 32810 to receive an SMS containing the address of their voting station (charged at R1).

‘An online facility (www.elections.org.za/MyIEC) is also available for registered voters with access to the internet to update and review their address online.

‘Unregistered voters can insert their address in the Voting Station Finder application on the website (https://maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder/) to find their correct voting station or call the contact centre,’ Bapela said.