This is the first election since the dawn of democracy that more than 27 million people have registered to vote. In 1994, just over 19 million people registered to vote in the first democratic elections and the Independent Electoral Commission says more than 27.79 million voters are eligible to cast their votes in this year’s national and provincial elections.
According to the Commission, the voters’ roll will be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo, this week.
The voters’ roll will be published by making it available at the Commission’s head office, each of the nine provincial offices of the Commission and at each municipal office of the Commission, Mr Mamabolo said.
“The certification follows the finalisation of objections by the Commission on the provisional voters’ roll that was published for inspection on February 26. Certification signals confirmation of those citizens who are eligible to vote in the elections,” he said.
Mr Mamabolo added that the electronic copies of the voters’ roll, which contain the redacted identity numbers of voters, in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act will be provided to all political parties and independent candidates who have qualified to contest the elections.
“Since the voters’ roll was compiled for the first time ahead of the 1999 National and Provincial Elections (over 18 million registered voters), it has shown steady growth of over 35% and contains the highest number of registered voters – recording an increase of 9.6 million voters since the 1999 general elections,” said Mr Mamabolo.
“The provincial breakdown of the registered voters indicate that Gauteng remains the biggest voting block, followed by the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, respectively. The highlight of the certified roll is the increase in the rate of representation by persons in the age cohort 18 to 39 years. This age band accounts for 42% (or 11.7 million) voters on the voters’ roll.”
Mr Mamabolo said of the 27.79 million voters, 15 million are women, representing over 55% of the voters. The introduction of the online self-service voter registration system has contributed to the increased rate of registration by younger voters in the country, as well as by citizens who live outside of the Republic of South Africa.
He added that compliance verification of the candidate nomination submissions is under way. In terms of the law, a party submission must contain a list of candidates accompanied by payment of the applicable deposit for it to be compliant. In respect of unrepresented parties, the submission must in addition, be accompanied by proof that the requisite number of signatures have been uploaded on the nomination portal, said Mr Mamabolo.
The requirements for independent candidates are that a prescribed nomination form must be submitted by the cut-off time, accompanied by the prescribed form confirming that the candidate has submitted the requisite number of signatures and payment of the relevant deposit.
Failure by a party or independent candidate to comply with any of these foundation nomination requirements cannot be remedied and will result in the disqualification of the party or independent candidate, said Mr Mamabolo.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced May 29 as the National and Provincial Election day.
“The 2024 elections coincide with South Africa’s celebration of 30 years of freedom and democracy. President Ramaphosa has called on all eligible voters to fully participate in this important and historic milestone of the democratic calendar,” said Mr Mamabolo.
