Voters’ roll reaches 27 million milestone

There are 27 million citizens registered on the voters’ roll ahead of the second and final voter registration weekend that takes place this weekend – Saturday, February 3, and Sunday, February 4.

This figure was announced by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, known as the IEC, at a media briefing this afternoon.

According to the chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, this weekend provides voters with one last chance to visit their voting stations to register or ensure their details are correct ahead of the upcoming national and provincial elections.

Mamabolo said all 23 303 registration stations across the country will be open from 08:00 to 17:00 on both days.

He stressed that if you have moved to another voting district since you last registered, you must update your details if you want to vote.

The first voter registration weekend held on November 18 and 19 saw 2.9 million people either registering to vote or updating their details.

Historic milestones achieved

Mamabolo said the IEC has achieved two historic milestones.

“The first is that the national voters’ roll has, for the first time, surpassed the 27 million mark. In the 2019 national and provincial elections, the certified voters’ roll stood at 26.7 million.

“We recorded just under 200 000 new registrations since the registration weekend in November 2023. Overall, registration activity in that period is 498 000. Again, this is a new feat.”

Mamabolo said the online registration platform ‘has proven to be the mainstay of registrations in between general voter registration weekends’.

Gauteng, women and 30-somethings lead the way

In terms of the number of people registered in the various provinces, Gauteng leads the pack with 6.3 million. This is followed by KZN (5.5m), Eastern Cape (3.3m), Western Cape (3.2m), Mpumalanga (1.9m), North West (1.7m), Free State (1.4m) and the Northern Cape (637 000), said Mamabolo.

Of these, 55% are female and 44% are male.

The highest number of those registered fall within the 30 to 39-year age group (6.7m), followed by 44 to 49 (5.9m), 55 to 59 (4.5m) and 20 to 29 (4.1m).

“Over 69 718 staff members have been recruited and trained. The recruitment criteria for electoral staff were conceived in consultation with the national political liaison committee. The names of trained staff have also been shared with the municipal political liaison committees to facilitate objections against those staff members that are deemed unsuitable,” said Mamabolo.

Out of the appointed staff, 53 028 are female and 16 690 are male. In addition, 35 640 registration staff are under the age of 35, while 26 475 are between ages 36 and 50. The balance of 7 603 are people who are 51 and above.

“Crucially, 50 213 of the total staff complement are unemployed persons,” Mamabolo confirmed.

Voter management devices to be used again

The success of the first registration weekend was, in the main, due to the efficiency of voter management devices (VMDs) – the mainstay technology for the delivery of the registration process.

“Once again, three business applications will be running on the VMDs this weekend. These are the staff attendance register, voting station monitoring and voter registration applications.

“The devices are designed to operate online via a secure private cellular data connection. However, all three applications have been coded to function fully without access to the network – what we call the offline mode – if certain predetermined parameters are met. These include instances when there is insufficient connectivity with the data centre. The interplay between the online and offline modes of the devices will happen without operator intervention,” said Mamabolo.

What you need to register

Citizens aged 16 years and older can register to vote.

The only thing they need is their ID book or a valid temporary ID certificate.

They need only provide their address or a description of where they live. Proof of address is not a requirement to register as a voter.

South Africans abroad

Mamabolo said the international segment of the voters’ roll for out-of-country registrations stood at approximately 18 000 South Africans before their registration weekend held in January.

“This segment now stands at 29 318 voters.”

Out-of-country registrations can still be done via online registration.

How to register or update your details online

Citizens can also register or update their details online, 24/7, until President Cyril Ramaphosa announces the election date, which is set to be between May and August.

To register online, click here and follow the prompts for your details.

Make sure you have your South African ID smart card or barcoded green ID book with you when you register, as you will need to scan a copy of it.

You will receive a notification as soon as your registration is processed.

If you don’t have data, you can register on someone else’s device.

Register at your local IEC office

You can also register at your local IEC office on weekdays during office hours, from 08:00 to 17:00.

Click here to find the contact details of your local IEC office.

Where is your voting station?

Registered voters can visit the IEC’s website to check their current registration details and voting station location.

They can also SMS their ID number to 32810 to receive an SMS containing the address of their voting station (charged at R1).

The IEC appeals to all stakeholders, including expatriate communities; political parties; aspirant independent candidates; government departments and entities; the media and civil society organisations, including labour, business, non-governmental organisations, religious-based organisations, traditional leaders and all community organisations to support the registration drive and encourage voter registration ahead of the elections.