Register this weekend to vote next year
All citizens who are not on the voter's roll can register to vote in next year's general elections at voting stations this coming Saturday and Sunday from 08:00 to 17:00.
NELSPRUIT – Voter registration begins on Saturday. National and provincial elections will take place in 2014, and people must register beforehand in order to participate.
On the day of the election, each registered voter will be able to cast their ballot to determine the national government, irrespective of where they are in the country. However, to be allowed to also vote for the provincial government, voters must cast them in the province in which they are registered.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) which oversees the election, therefore urged all citizens to register (first-time voters) or reregister if they have relocated to Mpumalanga since the previous elections. All citizens over the age of 16 can do so, despite having to
be at least 18 on the day of casting their vote.
Their first opportunity is this weekend, when all 1 680 stations across the province will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 08:00 to 17:00.
According to the IEC, the turnaround time for registration has greatly improved. “Prospective voters are expected to spend little time in centres,” it said.
To prevent too many people having to use one station to either register or vote, all areas have been divided into voting districts. Each one has a registration and voting station, which is most often a school or community centre.
To find out if and where one is registered, send an SMS with one’s ID number to 32810. Alternatively, visit a centre over the weekend with a valid ID. Election officials will accept three forms of official identification for a voter to register. These are a green bar-coded ID book, a valid temporary identity certificate (TIC) and the new smartcard ID.
The smartcard IDs were launched by the Department of Home Affairs in July. When a voter registers, the bar-code on the identity document is scanned to capture the person’s number and link it to the specific voting district where the person is registering.
A bar-coded sticker confirming the area is then printed and stuck into the ID or onto the TIC as proof of registration. In the case of the smartcard ID, the sticker will be stuck onto a printout which the person can take with them and present upon voting.
To find out where in your district to register, visit www.elections.org.za
