The Electoral Commission of South Africa will hold its final voter registration weekend on February 3 to 4 ahead of the national general elections.
The IEC’s chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the registration weekend held in November was successful with tens of thousands of new registrations.
“We think there are a lot more out there who have yet to be registered and this is an additional opportunity for them to enlist on the voters roll.
“On 3 and 4 February over 22 000 voting stations will open on both days and operate between 8am and 5pm.”
Mamabolo said the opening of the voting stations offers the greatest opportunity for a registration outcome.
Last year, 2.9 million South Africans interacted with the commission during the weekend of 18 – 19 November, with the majority of voters – 2.7 million – visiting voting stations to register, as well as update their details. A total of 196 511 voters used the online portal to do the same.
“The total registration activity over the two days was 2 904 037. Eligible citizens registering for the first time were 568 374. This accounts for 19.57% of total registration activity. Voters who re-registered in the same voting district numbered 1.4 million, and those who re-registered in different voting districts were 929 564.
“The Electoral Commission appreciates and thanks all South Africans who heeded the call to register for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections,” Mamabolo had said.
He said young people aged between 16 and 29 account for 78.31% of new voters, with young women dominating that count.
“The commission’s continued focus on young persons is producing a good yield. The Commission will persist with efforts to improve the registration levels of the youth.
“The well entrenched trend of there being more females on the voters roll continues. Of the new registrations, 298 500, or 52.52%, were female,” he said.
The Mercury