IEC says voter registration roll has surpassed 27 million

IEC

Cape Town — The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed that for the first time in democratic South Africa, the voters registration roll has surpassed the 27 million mark.

The IEC is currently gearing up for the final voting registration weekend on 3 and 4 February, and they hope that the numbers will increase even more.

The IEC, in collaboration with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), has currently been on a three-day drive to get prisoners to register to vote, as well as ramping up efforts to get South Africans living abroad, registered, SABC News reported.

Mamabolo says registration activity on the platform for that period has been of around 500 000 people. But the IEC wants to ensure it gets most of the 43 million eligible South African voters to register, including prisoners.

“The voter’s roll has for the first time surpassed the 27 million mark in the 2019 national and provincial elections the certified voter’s roll sat at 26. 7 million. We are encouraged that we have reached this milestone of 27 million people on the voter’s roll ahead of the second registration weekend event scheduled for this weekend.” IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo, said.

According to IOL, Mamabolo outlined the commission’s plans for the upcoming voter registration weekend during a media briefing at Centurion, Pretoria on Wednesday.

During the briefing, Mamabolo said over 23 000 voting stations across the country will open for citizens to register or check if their details were updated, wit nearly 70 000 staff members recruited and trained for registrations.

Among the provinces with the top five most registered voters, Gauteng currently boasts 6 325 985, KZN (5 593 419), Eastern Cape (3 356 m891), Western Cape (3 219 875) and Limpopo (2 729 309). The Northern Cape is the only province that does not have over one million voters.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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