Klerksdorp Record, Klerksdorp - The Electoral Commission has announced the dates for the second and final voter registration weekend ahead of the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.
The country’s 23 296 voting stations will open from 08:00 to 17:00 on February 3 and 4 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to inspect and if necessary update their registration details.
Following the first registration weekend in November last year, the voters’ roll contains 26.8 million voters with 568 374 of those registering for the first time during that period. The Electoral Commission is hopeful that the second registration weekend will surpass the turn out recorded in November.
Citizens aged 16 years and older can register to vote. All you need are a South African identity document (ID), either a green barcoded ID book, smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate. When registering, voters will need to provide their address or a description of where they live to allow the Electoral Commission to place them on the correct segment of the voters’ roll. However, proof of an address is not a requirement to register as a voter.
Similarly, South Africans living abroad will have an opportunity to register at South Africa’s 120 high commissions, embassies and consulates. South Africans abroad may register at high commissions, embassies this weekend (January 26-28). For the first time, South Africans abroad may now register as voters using the online self-registration portal by visiting https://online.elections.org.za/voterportal and capturing their details and uploading a scanned image of their identity document.
In addition, voter registration will also be conducted in correctional centres around the country to allow inmates to exercise their right to vote. Working with the Department of Correctional Services, the Commission will undertake the registration of inmates in the correctional centres between January 30 and February 1.
Family members of those who are incarcerated in correctional facilities are requested to deliver the identity documents of inmates to them ahead of this registration drive.
The Electoral Commission’s contact centre continues to be operational to assist citizens with queries and information about the registration process and information related to the location of voting stations. The contact centre, which can be reached on 0800 11 8000, operates from 08:00 to 17:00 weekdays. The online voter registration portal remains available until the date of proclamation of the elections for first-time voters to register and for those who are already registered to update their registration details.
Registered voters can visit the Electoral Commission website (www.elections.org.za) to check their current registration details and voting station location. They can also SMS their ID number to 32810 to receive an SMS containing the address of their voting station (charged at R1).
