For many South Africans it will not be possible to vote on election day at their voting stations. Have you ever wondered how these people are going to make their mark?
For those who have preregistered, this is how they will vote:
For the blind and disabled the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) together with the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) have developed a voting aid that helps these people cast their vote.
According the the IEC’s website, this is called the Universal Ballot Template (UBT) and can be used by blind or partially sighted people, people who suffer from dyslexia, the elderly, people with low literacy and people with motor or nervous conditions which do not allow a steady hand.
For those who will not be able to vote because of other reasons, if they have registered they will vote on 6 and 7 May during the special voting processes.
A person qualifies for special voting, according to the IEC’s website, if they have a valid South African identity document and can’t travel to a voting station because they are physically unfit, disabled, pregnant or can’t vote at their voting station on election day.
Voters could also apply to cast a special vote, meaning that the IEC will conduct a home visit.
Some of these special voters include South African prison inmates. They will be voting with the rest of the country on 8 May. As with any other South African citizen it is their constitutional right to vote and they may choose if they want to vote or not.
At the Krugersdorp Correction Services, 135 sentenced offenders and 27 remanded detainees registered to vote on 22 and 23 January.
A team of voting officials will visit the prison between 7am and 2pm to provide voting facilities to the inmates. The votes cast in the prison will not be counted at the prison; instead, they will be transferred to the voting district in which the prison is located and counted after voting closes, with all the other votes.
These are just a few of the many ways in which South Africans are able to make their marks and have them count towards the upcoming elections.
