IEC ready to register voters on 5/6 February

The Electoral Commission (IEC) will open all its voting stations on the weekend of 5 and 6 February 2011 between 8am and 5pm for voters to register and check their details. Registration will take place in 20 867 voting stations, a 6% increase over the 19 726 voting stations of the 2009 elections.

The Chairperson, Dr Brigalia Bam, said that these are our fourth municipal elections and the theme, “Love Your South Africa” is inspired by the unity and patriotism that South Africans presented to the world during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“I call upon all eligible voters who are not yet on the voters’ roll to visit their voting stations and register in anticipation of the forthcoming municipal elections which will be held anytime between 2 March and 30 May 2011. The youth of our beloved country are encouraged to turn up in their large numbers to register so that they can vote in the next municipal elections which will be held anytime between 2 March and 30 May 2011.” said Dr Bam.

For the 2009 elections, the voters’ roll was certified with 23 181 997 voters. Currently the breakdown for registered voters is as follows:

In the 20 to 29 age group there are an estimated 9.5 million eligible voters yet 5.1 million or only 53.7% are registered to vote. If we unpack the figures further:  Only 50.6% of the males or 5 in 10 in this category are registered to vote while 56.7% or nearly 6 in 10 of the women in this group are registered to vote. This stands in stark contrast to the approximate 93% of people who are 30 years and older who have registered as voters.

The registration weekend is not only an opportunity for first-time voters to register, but also for registered voters to confirm that they are correctly registered. Since these are municipal elections, voters can only vote where they are registered.

At the beginning of September 2010, the IEC received the newly demarcated wards from the Municipal Demarcation Board which resulted in the re-delimitation of a number of voting districts. 

The re-delimitation process was followed by a targeted registration drive from 3 to 13 December 2011. This resulted in 38 606 new registrations, 15 623 re-registrations in the same targeted voting district and 142 144 re-registrations from different targeted voting districts.

Registered voters who have been affected by the establishment of new ward boundaries should make use of the weekend to go and re-register in their new voting district.

Recruitment and training for the registration weekend have been completed. More than 60 000 registration officials will be deployed to voting stations this weekend. As is customary, the party liaison committees have been consulted on the appointment of presiding and deputy presiding officers, to ensure that they comply with the criteria that we have set to ensure their independence and impartiality. The criteria are that an officer:

• Must not in the last five years have held a political office,  or been a candidate in an election, or have been politically active for a political party;
• Must not in the last five years have held office in an organisation that has party political affiliations or aims.

As with previous registration drives, the Department of Home Affairs will extend their office hours between 8am and 5pm countrywide during this weekend’s registration to ensure that South Africans can obtain identity documents to enable them to register as voters. The Department will also deploy mobile offices in rural areas specifically those affected by flooding the past couple of weeks.

Applicants who have applied for IDs can check the status by calling the Department of Home Affairs toll free on 0800 60 1190 or by sending an SMS with their identity number to 32551.

Registered voters who want to confirm their registration details can send an SMS with their ID number to 32810 on all cell phone networks. Voters can also make use of the following facilities to check whether they are registered or to find their voting station:

• By calling the IEC toll free on 0800 11 8000 (from a landline).
• By visiting www.elections.org.za and go to “Am I registered” to check registration details or “Where is my voting station”.

Potential voters are reminded to take their green bar-coded identity document (ID Book) or a valid temporary identity certificates (TIC) with them when they go to register.

For media queries please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386