Voting by South Africans abroad ended today as the last voting station in Los Angeles, United States closed at 6 am South African time.
Votes cast at 116 South African missions are now being couriered in secure bags back to Election House in Centurion where they will be reconciled against the list of voters who successfully notified the Chief Electoral Officer of their intention to vote outside the Republic.
The ballot papers will then be set aside in ballot boxes and securely stored until local voting stations close and the counting of all ballot papers starts at 9 pm on 7 May. The votes from all international voting stations will be combined into a single international voting district.
Final numbers of votes cast abroad will therefore only be known once counting is completed on around 8 May. There were approximately 27 000 voters who had successfully applied to vote overseas.
Initial reports from the combined Electoral Commission and Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) operations centre were that voting had proceeded smoothly at all missions with no major problems encountered. Turnout was reported to be high at the two largest stations in London, where 9 863 voters were expected, and Dubai with 1 539.
The next round of special votes takes place on Monday 5 May and Tuesday 6 May when special votes are cast at voting stations between 9 am and 5 pm and through home visits.
Election officials will on Monday and Tuesday visit 295 731 voters in their homes, retirement centres, hospitals and health care facilities and other places of residence throughout the country to allow them to cast their ballots in the national election. Of these 292 510 will also cast a provincial ballot.
In addition, 90 698 voters also successfully applied to cast a special ballot on Monday or Tuesday at the voting station where they are registered. This brings to 386 429 the total number of voters who have been approved to cast a special vote.
The following are the provincial breakdowns of approved home visits and voting station visits:
|
Province |
Approved Home Visits |
Approved Voting Station Visits |
Total special votes |
|
Eastern Cape |
52 868 |
3 982 |
56 850 |
|
Free State |
23 970 |
9 841 |
33 811 |
|
Gauteng |
36 665 |
21 043 |
57 708 |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
49 608 |
14 925 |
64 533 |
|
Limpopo |
28 410 |
1 834 |
30 244 |
|
Mpumalanga |
32 299 |
18 634 |
50 933 |
|
North West |
24 515 |
6 234 |
30 749 |
|
Northern Cape |
22 641 |
5 241 |
27 882 |
|
Western Cape |
24 755 |
8 964 |
33 719 |
|
Total |
295 731 |
90 698 |
386 429 |
Of the 22 263 voting stations, 3 593 have no special vote applications and will therefore not open on Monday and Tuesday. The voting station with the largest number of special votes is in Keimoes, Northern Cape where 454 voters have successfully applied for special votes, 328 of them through home visits. 1 285 voting stations have just one application for special votes.
For media queries, please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
For media interviews, please email requests to: spokesperson@elections.org.za
You can also find the IEC on:
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/IECSouthAfrica
- Twitter: @IECSouthAfrica
- You Tube: www.youtube.com/user/IECSouthAfrica
- Mixit: iecsouthafrica
- Call centre: 0800 11 8000
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
