Limpopo gears up for 2019 general elections

As the country and the province gear up for the 2019 national general and provincial elections respectively, Limpopo citizens are advised to visit one of the 3 111 voting stations next Saturday and Sunday to register, update their registration and confirm physical addresses for them to be eligible to cast their votes during the elections expected to take place between May and August next year.
It was reported during the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) consultative meeting with stakeholders at a venue in Polokwane on Tuesday that the provincial voters’ roll has 906 103 voters with incomplete physical addresses and 247 090 without addresses, bringing a total number of address gap to 1 153 193.
It was learnt that the Constitutional Court had ordered that after the 2016 municipal elections, the voters’ roll must contain addresses for voters in all future elections and the IEC is expected to collect all the outstanding voters’ addresses by June.
The IEC in Limpopo said in a statement that over the past two years they have made a significant progress in updating addresses on the voters’ roll, increasing the proportion of complete addresses from 29% of registered voters in March 2016 to 55% of registered voters currently.
It was further highlighted that the commission had reduced the percentage of incomplete or generic addresses from 47% to 36% and the percentage for registered voters without recorded addresses from 24% to approximately 10%.

The registration weekend is regarded as a milestone towards the culmination of a two-year project to obtain addresses for all registered voters.
Commission Chairperson Glen Mashinini reportedly said the voters’ roll was the bedrock of electoral integrity and its quality is the foundation for free, fair and credible elections. He further said the commission was doing everything in its power to urge all eligible voters to visit their voting stations next weekend from 08:00 to 17:00 to register and update their personal information on the IEC system.
South African Citizens aged 16 and older and in possession of an official identity document (ID) can register as voters. Voters who will be visiting the voting stations next weekend are urged to take a copy of their bar-coded ID book, smart card ID or temporary ID certificate to register to vote.
Registered voters can also use the online platform www.elections.org.za to review and update their addresses.
Registered voters can also SMS their ID number to 32810 (charged at R1) to receive an SMS containing the address of their voting station or contact the commission on 0800 11 8000 during office hours from Monday to Friday for more information.

Story & photos: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za