IEC unveils election plan
THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) unveiled its election plan that includes a voter registration campaign to attract as many South Africans as possible to participate in next year's general elections recently.
The IEC has set aside Saturday 9 November and Sunday 10 November for a nationwide voter registration weekend. More than two million people will be targeted during that period.
While the date for the elections has not been set yet, chairperson Pansy Tlakula, said the IEC will pull out all the stops to ensure as many South Africans as possible cast their votes next year. More than three million new voters will also be casting their ballot for the first time in the election.
“We are preparing ourselves for an exceptionally high voter turnout. South Africans have repeatedly shown us that they will rise to the occasion and we are confident that the opportunity of the coming elections will be no different,” Tlakula said. Currently, the voters’ roll contains just over 23 million names and the IEC is targeting 25 million South Africans to vote in next year’s election, the largest since 1994.
According to statistics available on the IEC website, the largest number of registered voters on the voters’ roll is between the ages of 30 and 39, representing more than five million people. This group is followed by those aged between 20 and 29, representing over 4.5 million registered voters. There are less than 200 000 registered voters in the younger ages of 18 and 19, a number Tlakula said the IEC wants to increase.
Tlakula said the registration weekend can also be used by registered voters as an opportunity to inspect their details on the voters’ roll. Voters who have changed their physical addresses since their last registration were also called on to register in their new voting districts.
