A total of 22 609 voting stations will open on 10 and 11 March across the country for the public to check and confirm their addresses on the voters’ roll.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said this general registration goes to the heart of the preparations for the 2019 national and provincial elections and all voting stations around the country will be open between 8am and 5pm.
“The voters’ roll is a fundamental safeguard for free and fair elections. It is an instrument for facilitating electoral participation, which is placed at the disposal of political parties for campaign purposes. It serves a functional purpose as a planning tool for accurate provision of electoral material and the avoidance of electoral fraud,” said the Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo.
Mamabolo also urged all voters to make every effort to visit their voting stations.
“We are ready to open all the voting stations this weekend for all voters to easily update their address details on the voters’ roll, and for first-time voters to register. We need voters to show up and make use of the opportunity,” he added.
All the voting stations will assist the public by allowing registered voters whose address details are not on the voters’ roll to provide this information; assisting new voters to register, and allowing already registered voters who have moved since they registered to re-register in the correct voting district.
Voters are reminded to take their green bar-coded identification (ID) book, smart ID card or valid temporary ID certificate to the voting stations. They will be assisted to complete a registration form providing their home address at which they ordinarily reside, which will allow the IEC to place them in the correct voting district. Proof of residence is not required.
The IEC said the voters must please visit the voting stations in their voting district. To find the correct voting station, they can call the Commission’s centre on 0800 11 8000, or visit https://maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder/ or they can locate their voting stations via the Electoral Commission’s Voting Station Finder App.
Registered voters can also SMS their ID numbers to 32810 to receive an SMS containing the address of their current voting station (charged at R1).
Voters can enquire about the status of their ID and smart ID cards without physically visiting Home Affairs offices by simply SMSing the word “ID” followed by their ID numbers to 32551. Each SMS sent costs R1. They can also call the Home Affairs contact centre number on 0800 60 11 90.
“We would like to remind voters that the Electoral Commission’s online facility available at https://www.elections.org.za/MyIEC/ remains active for registered voters with access to the internet to check and update or provide their addresses online, should they be unable to visit their correct voting station this weekend. These voters are also urged to update their details before the end of May 2018,” IEC said in statement.
People can find the IEC on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IECSouthAfrica, on Twitter at @IECSouthAfrica and on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/user/IECSouthAfrica.
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