3 January 2006
The Chief Electoral Officer, Adv Pansy Tlakula, today emphasised that there
is still an opportunity for potential voters to register for the municipal
elections that has been announced to take place on 1 March 2006. The same
applies to registered voters that moved residence at the end of last year and
that still need to re-register at their new addresses. This is of particular
importance as persons, for municipal elections, can only vote in the voting
district in which they are registered. There is no legal provision that permits
otherwise for municipal elections.
Adv Tlakula urged voters to register or re-register as a matter of urgency
and not to delay it beyond this week. They will only be able to do so until the
elections are formally proclaimed in the Government Gazette and that could be
imminent. Voters may register or re-register at the office of the local
representative of the Commission (commonly known as the Municipal Electoral
Officer or MEO) in their respective municipalities during office hours. Address
details could be found on the IEC website at http://www.elections.org.za or by calling the
toll free number 0800 11 8000. She also urged the electronic and print media to
prominently cover this important deadline.
Adv Tlakula confirmed that targeted registration was still taking place
until Thursday in selected voting districts in Matatiele (3 VDs),
Umzimvubu/Mount Ayliff (1 VD), Kungweni/Bronkhorstspruit (7 VDs),
Thembisile/KwaMhalanga (10 VDs), Buffalo City/East London (1 VD) and
Kgetlengriver/Koster (1 VD). This was as a result of changes in a few ward
boundaries, mostly following municipal boundary changes, that were finalized in
December and now required the re-registration of a limited number of voters.
Affected voters would receive home visits from officials from the IEC and an
information leaflet would be left for those not at home at the time. Some
voting stations in the relevant voting districts would also open on either
Thursday or Friday in order that voters may re-register. These were localized
campaigns and the task at hand would be completed by Friday.
Adv Tlakula also confirmed that a time line, detailing important events and
deadlines leading up to the elections, would be issued as soon as the elections
have been proclaimed.
For media queries, please contact:
Norah Masike
Cell: 082 610 7267
Issued by: Electoral Commission
3 January 2006
Source: Electoral Commission (http://www.elections.org.za)
