Voters who are unable to cast their vote at their voting station on 18 May 2011 are reminded that they have only until 17h00 on Tuesday, 3 May 2011, to apply for a special vote.
If you are not able to apply for a special vote in person at your local Municipal Electoral Officer, someone else can also submit the application on your behalf. To qualify for a special vote, you have to be a South African citizen, 18 years and older, your name must appear on the voters’ roll and you must vote at the voting station where you are registered.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Adv Pansy Tlakula, said that special votes are also for members of the South African Police Service who will be on duty during the election period, voting station staff and other electoral staff who will be working on Election Day, members of the media and agents of political parties who will represent their parties at voting stations on Election Day.
Those applicants who cannot vote on 18 May will cast their special votes on Monday, 16 May between 08h00 and 17h00 at the voting station in the voting district where they are registered.
Those who are physically infirm or disabled will be visited byIndependent Electoral Commission (IEC) staff on 16 or 17 May at home.
Please remember that you have to vote in the voting district where you are registered.
The IEC has created two facilities to assist voters who have applied for a special vote to check whether their application has been approved. They can visit the IEC website and check under Special Votes Application Status by entering their ID number in the facility provided or they can SMS their ID number to 32711. In both instances they will receive a response informing them whether their application has been approved.
The MEC35 form (Appendix 25) is available from Municipal Electoral Offices (MEOs) countrywide or on the IEC website. For more information or the contact details of MEO offices call the IEC toll free on 0800 11 8000.
Enquiries:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
For media interviews: Please e-mail requests to spokesperson@elections.org.za
Special vote application cut-off date looming with only one working day left
