'Your X is your voice'

This past weekend was the final registration weekend for the fifth general elections since 1994.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was urging for more youngsters that are eligible to vote, to come and register.

“Early indications from the country’s 22,263 registration stations showed that young people were heeding the call to participate in the elections which mark the 20th year of democracy,” said Kate Bapela spokesperson for IEC.

According to the IEC, the new voters aged between 18 to 29 years registered this final weekend of voter’s registrations.

The fifth general elections since 1994 will be on May 7, said President Jacob Zuma.

Bapela said,” The proclamation of the date was expected later this month.”

Once the proclamation was published, the IEC would send out an election timetable. The timetable would give deadlines for submissions of candidate lists by political parties and applications for special votes

The IEC had also done registration at correctional centres for prisoners to register for up-coming elections.

Registration in South Africa’s 235 correctional facilities began on February 5, according to IEC press release.

IEC has decided to involve citizens that have migrated overseas to take part in the fifth general elections.

To date they have received 3703 applications for registration from about 70 missions around the world.

Registrations are streaming in on a daily basis for South Africans across the world that wants to make their mark, according to IEC press release.

The press release had the following figures:

· The overall number of registrations stands at 24.1 million.

· 22.2% of eligible voters aged 18 – 19 are registered which is 428 127 out of an eligible population estimated at 1.9 million

· 53.8% of those aged 20 – 29 are registered which is 5 103 401 out of an estimated 9.48 million population.

“This is in addition to a youthful registration campaign currently underway where youth role models from the music, media and entertainment industries, amongst others, share their reasons why the youth should register and vote in the 2014 National and Provincial Elections,” according to press release.