Electoral Commission on voter registration readiness

15 Nov 2023

Statement on voter registration readiness: 18th and 19th November 2023

Greetings to all,

Today, the Electoral Commission declares its readiness to conduct a general registration weekend as part of the programme for the preparations of the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

Over two days on 18 and 19 November, we will welcome eligible citizens at 23,296 registration stations across our great land. Registration stations will operate between 08h00 and 17h00 on both days.

Opening of all registration stations this weekend provides equal opportunity to all South Africans to access the voter registration process. Registration weekends as a modality of registration provides us by far the greatest registration yield in comparison with other methods. Therefore, we approach this weekend with a measure of expectation that this weekend will once again provide us significant registration activity.

The recently released Census 2022 results indicate that our population has grown to 62 million inhabitants with an estimated 39.7 million voting age population. The voters’ roll currently stands at 26.2 million representing 66 percent of the estimated voting age population. We are approaching this registration weekend informed by the national imperative to increase the coverage of the voters’ roll in all dimensions.

We pertinently wish to indicate that lease agreements pertaining to permanent voting stations have been signed and concluded. Of these voting stations, 62 per cent are schools, 9.7 per cent are places of worship and the balance of 28 per cent include all other categories such as community halls and other municipal infrastructure.

There are a further 959 temporary voting stations across the country. The majority of temporary stations are found in the province of Gauteng at 204, followed by the Free State at 180 and Limpopo at 150. Procurement processes in relation to the provision of temporary infrastructure have also been concluded. The institutionalization of temporary stations ensures that the electoral services reach communities which would otherwise not have the services available. They are, therefore, an important mechanism of extending franchise rights to all eligible citizens. There are 33 mobile voting stations.

Over 69 718 staff have been recruited and trained for this registration weekend. Out of these appointed staff, 53 028 are female and 16 690 are male. In addition, 35 640 registration staff are under the age of 35, whilst 26 475 are between ages 36 and 50. The balance of 7 603 are 51 years old and above. Crucially, 50 213 of the total staff complement are unemployed persons.

The Voter Management Devices (VMD’s) are the mainstay technology for the delivery of the registration process. The VMD’s were first introduced in 2021 and have since undergone significant improvements based on lessons that were evinced by previous electoral events. Accordingly, the operating system for these devices has now been enhanced.

Furthermore, three business applications will be running on these devices during this weekend. These are, the Staff Attendance Register, Voting Station Monitoring and Voter Registration applications. The devices are designed to operate online via an Access Point Network (APN). However, all three applications have been coded to operate offline in a number of instances including when there is insufficient connectivity with the central database. The interplay between the online and offline modes of the devices will happen without operator intervention.

A dry-run was conducted on 28 October to assess the functionality of the devices as well as the infrastructure that underpins its functionality. Again, optimizations have been effected in the light of the insights arising from the dry-run exercise.

The delivery of essential voter registration materials, including VMD’s, stationery packs, arrow signs, and document storage boxes, have been provisioned and delivery completed across all provinces.

Importantly, the registration process does not require the completion of forms at the station and therefore limited time will be spent at the station for actual registration. The voter’s roll, as it existed at the beginning of October 2023, has been printed and delivered to municipalities. Approximately 260 tons of equipment and material has been handled through our logistics value chain.

Since the Commission launched the online registration portal in July 2021, a total of 1.1 million registration transactions have been recorded. The portal has experienced a hive of activity this year with 52 percent of all transactions being recorded in the eleven months of the year. New registrations amount to 40.6 per cent of total online registration activity. Once again, women are the majority users of the online portal at 56 percent. Young persons under the age of 29 indicate a strong usage level at 49.6 per cent.

We have noted pronouncements of arrangements by the Department of Home Affairs to open its offices last weekend as well as on this weekend to allow citizens to collect identity documents. These offices will be open between 08h00 and 17h00 on both days on the weekend. We thank the Department for affording eligible citizens the maximum opportunity to enlist on the voters’ roll.

The Electoral Commission makes an impassioned call on adult South Africans to seize the moment by registering as voters. Only those who are on the voters’ roll can have a say in the electoral outcomes next year. Even if you have not as yet decided to vote, it is still important to be on the voters’ roll because your choice can only be recorded if you are registered.

Importantly, the Commission encourages registered voters to check the correctness of their details by visiting registration stations over the weekend. This is crucial because with the amendments to prescripts voters may only vote in the voting district in which they are registered. Deviation from this general rule is only available on pre-notification to the Chief Electoral Officer by a date to be regulated in terms of the election Timetable.

Our contact centre has been activated and can be reached on 0800118000. The webchat on our website has received considerable number of visitors and closely followed by our WhatsApp chats. Join the community of citizens who need more information to register by sending “hi” on our 0600 88 0000.

It Is Your Democracy Own It!

For media queries: Please contact Kate Bapela on 082 600-6386

For media interviews: Please email requests to spokesperson@elections.org.za

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