Voter registration kicks off

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Pretoria- About 22 570 registration venues opened this morning and tomorrow to allow voters to register and update their details ahead of the 2016 Local Government elections.

Registration venues open at 8am and will close at 5pm on both days.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa is confident that everything is in place for the first registration weekend to run smoothly and efficiently.

The commission has delivered over 10 million registration forms, 33 000 zip zip machines and about 52 000 staff have been trained and ready to assist voters.

The registration weekend will allow those who have never before registered as voters to register, those who need to re-register because they have changed voting stations as a result of moving place, or people who have been affected by changes in ward or voting districts.

Citizens are urged to take their identity documents with them to register.  

The commission and political parties are hoping that at least one million new voters will use the opportunity to register before the voters’ roll closes.

The latest voting age population (VAP) estimates provided by Statistics South Africa, indicate that there are currently about 24.9 million people on the voters’ roll and approximately 9.1 million eligible voters are not registered – more than 80% of these below the age of 35.

Municipal elections are held every five years to elect councillors who will be responsible for governing a municipality for the next five years.

Municipal councils ensure services that impact the daily lives of citizens in their areas, including water, electricity and sanitation.

To find out where your voting station is:

The exact date of the 2016 Municipal Elections will only be known when the election is officially proclaimed by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Des van Rooyen, but in terms of the Constitution the election must be held between 18 May and 16 August 2016.

The last Municipal Elections were held in 2011. -SAnews.gov.za