MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Electoral Commission has announced the dates for its second and final voter registration weekend for the 2019 national and provincial elections.Voting stations will open from 08:00 to 17:00 on Saturday, 26 January and Sunday, 27 January next year to allow new voters to register and existing voters to update and to check their registration details.
The Electoral Commission is also hopeful that voters who are already registered will use the opportunity to visit their voting station to check their registration and specifically to confirm and update their address details.
Court order
This forms part of the ongoing drive to ensure the voters' roll is ready for the elections in line with the 2016 order of the Constitutional Court.
Over the past two years, the Electoral Commission has added over 13 million addresses to the voters' roll through a variety of initiatives bringing the total number of voters with addresses on the voters' roll to 21.4 million (82%) from just 8.4 million (32%) in March 2016. All SA citizens aged 16 and older in possession of an official ID document can register as voters, although only those who are at least 18 years old on voting day may vote.
Voters should take a copy of their bar-coded ID book, smart card ID or temporary ID certificate when they go to register in the voting district in which they ordinarily reside. 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, documentation or proof of address is not required.
In terms of the Constitution, the term of the current National Assembly and provincial legislatures ends on 6 May 2019 and elections must be held within 90 days thereafter. This means the elections must be held between 7 May and 5 August 2019.
The president recently indicated his intention to proclaim elections before the end of May next year but is expected to announce the exact date sometime in the future.
Online
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). An online facility (www.elections.org.za/MyIEC) is also available for registered voters with access to the internet to update and review their address online.
Unregistered voters can insert their address in the Voting Station Finder application on the website (http://maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder/) to find their correct voting station or call the Contact Centre.
Read a related article: Date announced for 2019 election
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