The Independent Electoral Commission has this week declared their readiness to conduct the national registration weekend in preparation for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.
Eligible citizens are invited to visit one of the 23 296 registration stations across the country to register from 08:00 to 17:00 on 18 and 19 November 2023.
“The recently released Census 2022 results indicate that our population has grown to 62 million inhabitants, with an estimated 39.7 million voting age population. The voters’ roll currently stands at 26.2 million, representing 66% of the estimated voting age population. We are approaching this registration weekend informed by the national imperative to increase the coverage of the voters’ roll in all dimensions,” the IEC said.
The IEC further stated that the lease agreements pertaining to permanent voting stations have been concluded.
“Of these voting stations, 62% are schools, 9.7% are places of worship and the balance of 28% include all other categories such as community halls and other municipal infrastructure.”
Operating systems for the Voter Management Devices that have been introduced in 2021 have been enhanced.
“Three business applications will be running on devices during the weekend. These are the staff attendance register, voting station monitoring and voter registration applications. The devices are designed to operate online via an Access Point Network (APN). However, all three applications have been coded to operate offline in many instances, including when there is insufficient connection with the central database. The migration between the online and offline modes of the devices will happen without operator intervention.”
The IEC calls on South African citizens, who are eligible to vote, to make their way to the registration centers as “only those who are on the voters’ roll can have a say in the electoral outcomes next year.”
“Even if you have not as yet decided to vote, it is still important to be on the voters’ roll because your choice can only be recorded if you are registered. The Commission also encourages registered voters to check the correctness of their details by visiting registration stations over the weekend,” the IEC concluded.
Visit https://maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder/ to find your voting station in Bloemfontein.
Compiled by Gypseenia Lion
