Special voting out-of-country under way for South Africa’s historic 2024 elections
The Electoral Commission is pleased to announce a smooth start to special voting abroad at nine South African missions on Friday, 17 May 2024. The Commission had designated 17 May 2024 as a special voting day at nine foreign missionss as follows: Algiers, Amman, Cairo, Damascus, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Ramallah, Riyad, and Teheran.
"We are pleased that South Africans living abroad have heeded the call to vote, and we encourage those voters whose places of voting are open today to vote before the close of voting at 19h00 (local time in the territory). It is appropriate at this time to also express gratitude to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Department of Home Affairs for their ongoing support,” says Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo.
The Commission reminds voters that the 102 missions with a work week from Monday–Friday will vote tomorrow, Saturday, 18 May, between 07h00 and 19h00.
Due to the large voter population, the Commission determined two days of special voting for London. These are Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May 2024 from 07h00 to 21h00. The additional voting day and extended voting hours are intended to enable proper arrangements for the 24 535 voters entitled to vote at the mission.
The Commission encourages South African voters in the London mission to make full use of the first day of special voting,
Saturday 18 May. “Although we have made provisions for Sunday, we urge voters not to leave it to the second and last day. On Saturday, the entire Duncannon Street will be closed off to traffic, and stanchions will be erected to facilitate large-scale queuing,” says CEO Mamabolo.
The Commission also extended voting hours at the missions in Washington DC and New York on Saturday, 18 May. The voting hours are 07h00 to 21h00. Furthermore, any voter who has a VEC 10 confirmation with a date of 17 or 18 May will be allowed to vote when they arrive at voting stations today.
Mamabolo also reminds voters that, by law, South Africans abroad and those voting outside of their provinces of registration, will only vote on the national compensatory ballot. The 2024 National compensatory ballot has 52 political parties arranged in two columns. Voters are reminded to make a mark against a single party on the ballot.
Voters out-of country on special voting days must present in person at a mission at which they are registered (or where they have successfully applied for a special vote by VEC 10 notice), and will vote as follows:
- A voter will present their South African identity document (ID) book, smartcard or temporary identity certificate to the election official (copies of identity documents and images saved on devices are not competent forms of identification for voting).
- The left thumbnail of the voter is marked with indelible ink to indicate that they have voted.
- The name of the voter is marked off the list of voters approved to vote at that mission to indicate that the voter has participated in the election.
- The voter is issued with the National compensatory ballot paper.
- The voter will mark the ballot in secret, and place and seal the ballot in an unmarked envelope which will in turn be placed in a second envelop marked with details of the voter and the mission.
- After the voting process, cast national compensatory ballots will be transported through a secure channel back to the national office of the Electoral Commission for counting. The votes will be counted in the presence of agents representing contestants ater the close of the voting stations in th country.
D-Day for Notifications to vote outside of your voting district
The Commission wishes to remind eligible voters who intend to vote at voting stations where they are not registered to vote on 29 May, that they must notify the Electoral Commission of their intention by midnith tonight Friday, 17 May 2024.
The general rule in elections is that a voter votes in a voting district where they are registered. The only exception to this rule is that a voter may vote outside of their registered voting district only after notifying the Electoral Commission. The notification period opened on March 15 and will close at midnight on 17 May 2024
Voters can notify the Commission by visiting www.elections.org.za and using the online Section 24A notifications portal.
Voters may use the following channels to check their registration details and voting station ahead of election day:
- Online at www.elections.org.za/pw/Voter/Voter-Information
- SMSing their ID number to 32810
- Contact centre on 0800 11 8000.
- The IEC APP downloadable from AppStore
