Pretoria - Applications for special votes for the May 7 general election close at 5pm today.
There are two categories of special votes, home visits and special voting at your registered voting station.
Election officials will visit voters who have successfully applied for a home visit due to physical infirmity, disability or pregnancy. These home visits will be conducted on 5 May and on 6 May 2014.
Any voters who will be absent from the voting district where they are registered on Election Day may apply to cast their vote early. This voting will take place at the voting stations where the voter is registered on 5 May and 6 May 2014 between 9am and 5pm.
To date, just over 75 000 applications have been captured and approved for voters to cast a special vote on Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6. These comprise approximately 57 000 home visits and 17 500 voters, who will vote at their voting stations.
Applications for both categories of special votes must be made by completing a VEC 1 form (available on www.elections.org.za or at local offices of the IEC) and must be submitted by hand to the local IEC office in the municipality responsible for the voting district where the special vote is to be cast.
The forms will not be accepted at national or provincial offices and cannot be faxed, emailed or posted.
Special vote applicants may use a proxy to deliver the VEC 1 form to the local IEC office in the municipality where they intend to vote but the form itself must be signed by the voter themselves.
Unlike previous national and provincial elections, applications for special votes will no longer be accepted at voting stations on special voting days.
Only voters whose applications are submitted by no later than 5pm tomorrow and who receive confirmation of approval will be able to cast a special vote.
Having submitted the VEC 1 application form, voters will be informed of the outcome of their application via SMS or email. They can also check their status on the website (www.elections.org.za). - SAnews.gov.za
