The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Wednesday said it was ready to oversee the general voters registration weekend on November 18 and 19, and it encouraged registered voters to confirm their personal details by visiting registration stations.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mmabolo was briefing the media, where he explained that owing to amendment to prescripts, it was crucial that voters only vote in the voting districts in which they were registered.

He said that the deviation from this general rule was only allowed on pre-notification to the chief electoral officer by a date to be regulated in terms of the elections timetable.

Mmabolo explained that section 24A has been amended by Parliament to fortify the credibility of the process.

“If you recall there were allegations in 2019 that people had voted multiple times, having gone to their stations and having received a section 24A elsewhere. The relevant people were arrested and brought before the courts… and some of them paid fines to the courts,” he said.

He noted that the IEC did not want a repeat of multiple voting, hence Parliament felt it was necessary to strengthen the provision.

Over November 18 and 19, the IEC will welcome eligible citizens at 23 296 registration stations across the country. Registration stations will operate between 08:00 till 17:00 for the two days.

Mmabolo said that opening of registration stations this weekend provided equal opportunity to all South Africans to take part in the voter registration process, explaining that the IEC was approaching the registration weekend with a major expectation of significant registration activity.

He highlighted that the 2022 Census results indicated that the country’s population has grown to 62-million inhabitants, with an estimated 39.7-million people of voting age.

He noted that the voter’s roll currently stood at 26.2-million registered voters, representing 66% of the estimated voting age population.

“We are approaching this registration weekend informed by the national imperative to increase the coverage of the voter’s roll in all its dimensions. We patently wish to indicate that lease agreements pertaining to permanent voting stations have been signed and concluded,” he said.

He highlighted that 66% of premises are schools, 9.7% are places of worship and 28% are a mix of community infrastructure. He added that there are a further 959 temporary voting stations across the country.

LOGISTICS – CHECK

Mmabolo explained that Gauteng had the majority of temporary voting stations with 204, the Free State had 180 and Limpopo 150. He highlighted that procurement processes in relation to the provision of temporary infrastructure had also been concluded.

“The institutionalisation of temporary stations ensures that electoral services reach communities which will 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 across the country,” said Mmabolo.

He said 69 718 staff had been recruited and trained for the registration weekend, 50 213 of the total staff complement were unemployed persons. He highlighted that the commission was giving working opportunities to young and unemployed persons.

Mmabolo explained that Voter Management Devices (VMD) would be used over the two days, and these have three business applications – staff attendance register, voting station monitoring and voter registration applications.

He said the devices were designed to operate online via an access point network, however, he said the three applications had been coded to operate offline in a number of instances, including when there is insufficient connectivity with the central database.

He said the interplay between the online and offline modes of the devices would happen without operator intervention. He added that the VMD dry run was conducted on October 28.

Mmabolo said essential voter registration materials had been delivered across all provinces, adding that the registration process did not require the completion of forms at the stations.

“Therefore limited time will be spent at the stations for actual registration.”

The voter’s rolls have been printed and delivered to all municipalities, he said.