THE Electoral Commission (IEC) in KZN has said that it is “fully prepared for the voter registration weekend scheduled for June 20 and 21”.

This was announced by the provincial Electoral Officer Ntombifuthi Masinga during a media briefing on Thursday, June 18, at the commission’s offices in Westville.

The voter registration weekend is in preparation for the 2026 local government elections (LGE) set for November 4.

“Following the re-determination process of ward boundaries by the Municipal Demarcation Board [MDB], KwaZulu-Natal saw an increase in the number of wards from 901 in the 2021 local government elections to 921 wards for this year’s local government elections.

“This was necessitated by legislative requirement for the number of registered voters to not exceed the permissible norm for each municipality in the province. During this process, a number of voters were reassigned to different wards and voting districts (VD).

“To ensure that affected citizens remain correctly registered and informed of these changes, the Electoral Commission undertook an extensive targeted communication and registration campaign (TCR) on 22 to 24 May 2026, visiting a total of 1188 affected VDs in the province.

“During this process, the province recorded the highest yield of all provinces, adding 15689 new voters and updating registration details of 93 224 voters on the KZN segment of the voters roll.

“Affected voters not reached through the TCR project still have an opportunity to update their addresses on the voters roll to ensure they are placed on the correct segment of the voters roll. They can do this by either using our online registration platform, registertovote.elections.org.za, or by visiting a voting station close to where they reside during the coming registration weekend and providing their current residential address.

“This initiative reinforces the commission’s commitment to an accurate voters’ roll and ensuring all eligible citizens can vote in their correct wards.

“The alignment of VDs to new ward boundaries also resulted in an increase of the number of VDs from 4974 used in the 2024 national and provincial elections to 5021 for LGE 2026. At 5021, KwaZulu-Natal province accounts for the highest number of the 23 706 VDs in the country, 21%,” said Masinga.

Masinga said KZN has 5 764 286 registered voters, with women being the majority at 3 256 368.

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In preparation for the registration weekend, 10 042 registration officials have been recruited and trained and will be deployed throughout the province.

“In the interest of transparency and electoral integrity, the names of presiding officers were shared with political parties, affording them an opportunity to raise objections where there may be concerns regarding the impartiality or suitability of any of these officials,” said Masinga.

Masinga added that all voting stations have been secured and will be open for the registration weekend, and security measures have been put in place.

She added that all requisite registration material has been delivered to all 44 municipalities across the province.

“The materials include voter management devices (VMD), stationery packs, directional signage and document storage boxes,” said Masinga.

Masinga said KZN has 7908 VMDs and that additional ones will be assigned to VDs with a high population. There are a total of 5021 VDs in the province.

“These devices have undergone necessary maintenance to ensure that they are fit-for-purposse,” said Masinga.

All voting stations will open at 08.00 and close at 17.00 during the registration weekend.

“We also encourage all those who will not make it to the voting stations this weekend to either visit their municipal electoral offices to verify their registration  and address details or visit the Electoral Commission’s voter portal at registertovote.elections.org.za.

“Of utmost importance for the 2026 local government elections is that you can only vote where you are registered. Voters are encouraged to check whether their voting district boundary has changed by verifying their registration status on the Electoral Commission’s voter portal at registertovote.elections.org.za or by sending their ID number via SMS to 32810,” said Masinga.

The voter portal and SMS service will display a voter’s current registration details, including their voting district and station.

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