Register to vote or update your details
Voter registration weekend is on September 18 and 19.
The uncertainty of whether the local government elections will be held this year or not is now over.
The IEC had, earlier this year, applied to have the elections postponed to next year. However, the Constitutional Court of South Africa dismissed the application and ruled that the elections be held this year between October 27 and November 1.
Following the ruling, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced the elections will officially be held on November 1.
The IEC, in complying with the Constitutional Court order, also announced that a physical registration weekend was necessary and would be held on September 18 and 19.
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The voter registration weekend is an opportunity for new voters to register and for existing voters to update their details.
South Africa is divided into over 18 000 voting districts, each one with its own voting station. To vote you have to be on the voters roll for your voting district.
On Election Day only the roll for that district will be at the voting station. If your name is not there, you will not be able to cast a normal vote.
Most voters are already registered from past elections. If you are still living in the same voting district where you registered in previous elections, you do not have to register again.
The borders of your voting district may have changed and the IEC will inform you with a leaflet if you have to re-register. If you have moved, you should change your registration so you can vote at the voting station in your area.
Registration works like this:
You need a green ID book/smart card or a temporary ID document.
Go to the voting station on a public registration day and fill in a form to show that you live in the area.
A special machine (Zip-Zip) will be available in each voting district. It can read the bar code in your ID book and automatically records the correct information about your name and ID number for the voter’s roll.
The machine also prints a sticker that will be pasted in your ID book to show you have registered at that voting station.
The IEC has the whole voters roll on one national computer and when you register the computer will check if your ID number already appears somewhere else. If it does, the computer will automatically cancel your registration at your old voting district and only accept the latest registration.
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