First votes in national elections to be cast in less than 24 hours
Overseas voters only vote in the national and not provincial elections.
25 years to the day when South Africans voted in the first democratic elections, voting in the sixth national elections gets underway at 7am (local time) on Saturday at South Africa’s high commissions, embassies and consulates-general around the world.
Overseas voting will continue for almost 24 hours as voting stations open and then close around the world following the passage of the sun – beginning in Auckland, New Zealand and ending in Los Angeles, United States.
The 29 334 voters who received approval to vote overseas are required to visit the mission indicated on their application and take with them their South African ID document (either a green barcoded ID, a smart card ID or a valid temporary ID certificate) and their valid passport.
This year the voting process has been simplified and they will no longer be required to complete a special vote application form before voting.
Once they have voted, their ballot is sealed in a double envelope and all ballots are placed in sealed diplomatic bags which will be transported back to the National Office of the Electoral Commission over the coming week.
At the close of voting on election day in South Africa (9pm on May 8) the returned overseas ballots will be opened by election officials, counted and added to the national ballot count for each party. This takes place under the scrutiny of observers and party agents.
Overseas voters only vote in the national and not provincial elections.
Voting is conducted by South African diplomats who have been trained as election staff by the Electoral Commission – although a number of senior Electoral Commission staff have also been deployed to high density overseas voting sites such as London and Dubai.
The top 10 foreign missions with the most voters are:
