14 days to 29 May 2024, Electoral Commission is finalising preparations

The road to the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (NPE 2024) is rapidly approaching the final and most critical stages of the Elections Timetable. We are now two days to out-of-country voting; 12 days before special votes are cast in the Republic; and 14 days to the general elections on 29 May.

This Friday, 17 May 2024 will mark yet another milestone in the Elections Timetable – the first day of voting in the NPE 2024. South African citizens living in other countries will cast the first ballots on 17 May 2024. Nine countries will cast ballot on Friday whilst the rest of the 102 will cast ballots on Saturday, 18 May 2024. Given high numbers of expected voters in London at 24 194, this station will operate on both the 18 and 19 May 2024.

The international segment of the voters roll for out-of-country voters, has 56 698 voters, but the total expected to vote is 76 580. This comes after the approval of 20 886 VEC10 notifications from voters who informed the Chief Electoral Officer of their intention to vote outside of the country due to temporary absence. 

The Commission declares its readiness to ensure that voting goes smoothly in 111 foreign missions around the world. All missions have already received the election materials, which include ballot papers, voting booths, ballot boxes, envelopes, and a voter list. 

Voting stations will be open from 07:00am to 19:00pm, allowing 76 580 voters to exercise their right to vote in South Africa’s 2024 National Elections.  On both voting days abroad, the Electoral Commission will keep extended hours to assist voters with any enquiries. 

SA citizens voting out-of-country in the 2024 National Election can only vote on ONE day at their mission:

  • Missions with a work week from Sunday–Thursday vote on Friday, 17 May, 7am to 7pm. The following missions are determined to vote on this Friday details in the previous statement Algiers, Amman, Cairo, Damascus, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Ramallah, Riyad and Teheran.
  • Missions with a work week from Monday–Friday vote on Saturday, 18 May, 7am to 7pm. Note that two days of special votes have been determined for the UK based on the number of voters who will vote at that mission.

 

SPECIAL VOTES

It is also critical that we outline the process that occurs after voting has taken place outside the country. This is to allay the fears of those who are unfamiliar with the procedures for voting in an overseas setting.

  • After the voting process, cast national compensatory ballots in their double envelopes will be transported through a secure channel back to the national office of the Electoral Commission for counting.
  • To protect the secrecy of the vote, all such special votes are first placed in an unmarked envelope, which is then inserted into a second envelope marked with the voting station and voter’s particulars for verification on the list of approved special votes.
  • The envelope is then placed in the ballot box.

Special votes within the Republic will take place on the two days preceding election day 27 and 28 May. The time of operations is 9am to 5pm. Following the 3 May deadline, the Commission approved a total of 1 668 076 special votes applications, of which 624 593 are for voters who will be visited at their homes or places of confinement and 1 043 483 will voters who will vote at voting stations where they are registered.

The provinces with the most approved special votes for both home visits and voting station visits are Gauteng (335 498), KwaZulu Natal (320 010), Eastern Cape (286 059), Limpopo (159 800), Western Cape (137 558), North West (132 627), Mpumalanga (126 112), Free State (86 908), and Northern Cape (83 504)

Our staff are prepared and will be at all voting stations, as well as visiting the homes of those who are unable to visit the voting stations, to ensure that all those who have been granted special votes have a smooth voting experience.  Party and independent agents will also accompany special voting staff and accredited observers.

 

Readiness for the NPE 2024


Ballot Papers

In these elections, voters will receive three ballot papers:  the national compensatory ballot for political parties, provincial and regional ballots for parties and independent candidates. We wish to remind voters to make only one mark against the party or candidate of their choice. In other words, “One ballot, One Mark”. 


Voting Stations

Lease agreements for 23 303 permanent voting stations have been signed and concluded. Of these, 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 facilities.


Training of Voting Station Officials

We are in the final stages of training 202 500 voting officials who will discharge the responsibility of administering the electoral process in the voting stations. To this end, a total of 191 185 voting officials have been appointed. The addition of a new category of staff to assist the presiding officer with the counting effort is another significant step towards improving the quality of counting. Three such staff are being appointed for each voting station and for each sub-station where a voting centre is being operated. 


Results Operation Centre (ROC)

As part of our final preparations, the Commission will launch the National Results Centre (ROC) on Wednesday, 22 May 2024. The National ROC will be based at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg. It will house Commission members, as well as representatives of key service providers such as Eskom and parliament, as well as representatives of contestants of the elections, domestic and international observer missions, and media organisations.


Domestic and International Observers

The Commission is pleased to share that a record 160 organisations with 5 000 observers domestically and from around the world will be observing South Africa’s 2024 general elections. About 15 of these observer organisations are international and include the African Union, The Carter Centre Democracy Program, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 

The Electoral Commission opened applications for observer accreditation on 22 August 2023, and they closed on 1 May 2024. Domestic observers’ groups were briefed by the Electoral Commission ahead of the historic elections which will see independent candidates contesting national and provincial elections for the first time in South Africa’s democratic history. International observers will be briefed on 26 May 2024.

 

Measures in place for persons with disabilities

We have implemented measures to make the voting process more accessible to all South Africans, regardless of physical abilities. Voting officials will assist voters who require assistance on voting day. 

Working with the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB), we have developed a voting aid, the Universal Ballot Template (UBT), to enable all citizens to confidently and confidential exercise their vote. 

The UBT can be used by:

  • Blind and partially-sighted people;
  • Low-vision users;
  • People with an unsteady hand;
  • The elderly;
  • People with low literacy; and
  • People with motor and nervous conditions which do not allow for a steady hand.

 

Vote where you are Registered (Section 24A)

Voters are to vote where they are registered. It is therefore appropriate that, ahead of the elections, we remind voters of the general rule in elections. That is, a person votes at a voting station where they have registered. The only exception to the general rule is that a voter may vote outside of their registered voting district only after notifying the Commission. Notifications in this regard will close this Friday on 17 May 2024. As of today, approximately 199 092 notifications had been approved. 

We call on registered voters to check their voting station ahead of election day. A number of channels are available to assist voters with checking their registration:

  • by SMS ID number to 32810   
  • using voting station finder application on website
  • Contact centre on 0800 11 8000
  • The IEC APP downloadable from the App Store or Google Play.

We call on South Africans both abroad and here at home come out in numbers and excise their democratic rights. We further continue our call to citizens, media members, and political party leaders to set a good example and foster an electoral environment based on trust, integrity, and respect for all. The Electoral Commission, for its part, commits to declaring an election outcome based on South African voters' choices. 

We remind South Africans that the counting of votes takes place at each voting station in the presence of political party agents and independent candidate agents and observers. The results slip will be counter-signed by party agents, and the results slip at the conclusion of the count will be displayed at that voting station. All interested parties are allowed to capture a photo of that official result of that voting station, with their gadgets.

It’s your democracy, own it!


ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Ensuring free, fair and credible elections 

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