Johannesburg - The Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) online voter registration has begun for the 2024 provincial and national elections.
IEC is aiming to enable and assist South Africans to register online to cast their vote, which is scheduled to take place next year.
The IEC said it will mount a national campaign to enable and assist citizens. The campaign, titled “Your Vote Is Your Voice”, will appear in print, electronic, and digital media, according to IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela.
“South Africans who are eligible to vote in these elections are encouraged to use this hassle-free and convenient way —the Electoral Commission’s Online Voter Portal — to register to vote in the elections,” said Bapela.
She said the online voter registration campaign started today and is expected to run until Friday, March 3.
“This campaign targeted at South Africans who are 16 years of age and older forms part of a multifaceted, year-long campaign by the commission to encourage and facilitate eligible South Africans to register,” she said.
Bapela said South Africans are encouraged to register for the elections on this link: https://registertovote.elections.org.za.
“It’s safe, quick, and easy!” Bapela said.
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Mawethu Mosery said though it is still early, the commission has around 14 months before a possible date for elections.
He said their term of office will end on May 22, 2024; this means they have just about 90 days from that date, which takes them to about August 10, 2024; during that period, an election date could be set.
“We are indeed on time in terms of starting early and encouraging particularly our young voters. We are aware that the youth prefer technology and digital platforms to do things, and we thought it might be good to go out at this point and test it out and get people to be active on it, and obviously we are keen on young voters who would be voting for the first time.“
Mosery said this will also help them when they open voting stations for registration, so they are not clogged with long lines, but everyone must vote in person.
When it comes to trends, it has been seen in the past that voter turnout is low when it comes to local government elections versus provincial and national elections.
Mosery said for the past two to three general elections, both local and national, the trend had been similar.
“We have been on a downward trend in terms of voter participation, although the trend indicates that for national and provincial elections we are at a higher percentage. We are above 55% participation for national and provincial elections, whereas for local government elections, we took a big turn in 2021 and were below 50% voter participation for the first time.”
He said they are concerned with getting South Africans to the polling booth and participating in the democratic process.
The Star