The Electoral Commission (IEC) calls on South African voters to register, or to at least make sure that their registration is still legitimate, during a two-day registration weekend on 20 and 21 June. This is to enable eligible South Africans to vote in the upcoming Local Government Election on 4 November.
Young people who are eligible to vote in the election for the first time, are urged to register with the opportunity this weekend.
The commission will open all 23 706 registration stations from 08:00 to 17:00 on both days of the weekend, across South Africa. The need to undergo or review details through the registration process also applies to all people who have relocated to a different municipal ward, town or city. Those eligible to vote must be South African citizens aged 18 years and older. To register, they must have their smartcard or green bar-coded identity document (ID) or a valid temporary identity certificate (TIC).
According to the IEC the Free State has a total of 1 474 723 or 5,33% of the national eligible voters on the official roll, while nationally there are 27 672 264 voters.
According to the commission, currently more than 7 million youth voters are registered on the national voters’ roll. South Africans can also check and update their voter registration details online apart going to venues during the two-day registration weekend. The online voter registration portal, available at https://registertovote.elections.org.za/, allows voters to update their residential addresses and ensure they are correctly assigned to voting stations.
The IEC is an independent constitutional body which manages free and fair elections of legislative bodies and institutions through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society in deepening electoral democracy.
