8 April 2009
In terms of the election timetable, the Electoral Commission (IEC) has
identified specific dates for voters to cast special votes in the 2009 National
and Provincial Elections.
Arrangements have been put in place for voters who cannot visit their voting
stations due to physical infirmity, disability or pregnancy, to apply for a
special vote and if approved they will be visited by voting officers to cast
their vote at the address indicated on their VEC 1 form.
Voters who will be in hospital or housebound on Election Day have until 14
April 2009 to submit their application at the office of their municipal
electoral officer or on 20 April 2009 between 09h00 and 17h00 at the office of
their presiding officer in the voting district in which they are
registered.
If they find themselves in hospital in a different town or city, they can
apply at the municipal electoral office of the town or city in which the
hospital is situated.
Please note that the Electoral Commission will not automatically visit
places such as hospitals or retirement homes where a person may be confined,
voters have to apply to be visited to enable them to cast their votes.
Applications should be done on a VEC 1 form which can be downloaded from the
IEC website, http://www.elections.org.za or collected from
the municipal electoral office. Once it has been completed, the form can either
be faxed or delivered by hand to the municipal electoral office. Contact
details for municipal electoral offices are available from the IEC call centre
which can be called toll free on 0800 11 8000 from a landline.
Where applications for special votes have been approved, IEC officials will
visit such voters on 20 or 21 April 2009 at the address indicated on their
application to enable them to cast their votes.
IEC officials are expected to clearly identify themselves and the purpose of
their visit.
They will ask the voter for his/her South African green bar-coded identity
document (ID Book) or valid temporary identity certificate and once they are
satisfied that the person visited is the person who applied to cast a special
vote, they will mark the voter's left thumbnail with indelible ink and stamp
the identity document with the official IEC stamp.
The voter will then be given a national and a provincial ballot paper and be
allowed to vote in secret before the ballots are placed in unmarked, sealed
envelopes. If a voter is outside his/her province where he/she is registered,
he/she will only receive a National Ballot Paper.
Special votes are counted on Election Day with the votes cast at the voting
station.
For more information on special votes please visit the IEC website on
http://www.elections.org.za or
contact the IEC toll free on 0800 11 8000 from a landline.
For media queries please contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
8 April 2009
