Over 27.79 million voters – the highest since the dawn of democracy in
South Africa – are eligible to cast their votes in the 2024 National and Provincial
Elections (NPE 2024).
The voters’ roll will be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer on 12 March 2024. It 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. The certification follows the
finalisation of objections by the Commission on the provisional voters’ roll
that was published for inspection on 26 February 2024. Certification signals
confirmation of those citizens who are eligible to vote in the elections.
Electronic copies of the voters’ roll which contain the redacted
identity numbers of voters in compliance with the Protection of Personal
Information 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, it (the voters’ roll) 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.
The table below illustrates the rate of growth on the voters’ roll for
successive elections:
|
National and Provincial Elections
|
Registered voters
|
|
1999
|
18.17 million
|
|
2004
|
20.67 million
|
|
2009
|
23.18 million
|
|
2014
|
25.39 million
|
|
2019
|
26.74 million
|
|
2024
|
27.79 million
|
The provincial breakdown of the registered voters indicate that Gauteng
remains as 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 18–39 years. This age band accounts
for 42% or 11. 7 million voters on the voters’ roll. In fact, the increase
in this age category from the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE 2021) is
over 200%, which vindicates the continued focus by the Electoral Commission and
other stakeholders to invert the under-representation of this category of
voters.
The well-entrenched trend of there being more females on the voters’
roll continues. Of the 27. 79 million voters, 15 million are females. This
represents over 55%.
The introduction of the online self-service voter registration modality
has contributed to the increased rate of registration by younger voters in the
country as well as by citizens who are resident outside of the Republic.
The table below illustrates the top 10 missions designated as
international voting stations with most registrations outside of the Republic:
|
Diplomatic Mission
|
Registered Population
|
|
London
|
19 525
|
|
The Hague
|
5 574
|
|
Canberra
|
2 609
|
|
Dubai
|
2 574
|
|
Dublin
|
2 342
|
|
Wellington
|
1 668
|
|
Abu Dhabi
|
1 416
|
|
New York CG
|
1 379
|
|
Washington
|
1 228
|
|
Berlin
|
1 188
|
Candidate Nomination Progress
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.
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.
Unauthorised circulation of candidate lists
On Saturday, 9 March 2024, the Electoral Commission reported that it had
become aware of lists of candidates that were being circulated on social media
platforms. Additionally, the Electoral Commission indicated that the lists
contained hallmarks of information that suggested the information emanated from
a user inside of the organisation. For that reason, an enquiry was instituted to
establish the circumstances of the unauthorised circulation and the person or
persons responsible. Following investigations over the weekend and early hours
of today, the Electoral Commission is able to give a preliminary report as
follows:
The investigation
has narrowed the source of the disclosure to a workstation that had been used
to generate and store the reports. Later, the said reports were deleted from
the workstation. Earlier today the workstation was secured and imaged in the
presence of the staff member whose credentials were used to generate the
reports. A forensic analysis of the computer is currently under way.
The Electoral Commission reiterates its regret for the unauthorised
disclosure of the lists and the disclosure of personal information of
candidates on those lists. The Electoral Commission continues to cooperate with
the Information Regulator in this regard.
ENDS
ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Ensuring free, fair and credible elections
For media queries: Please contact
Kate Bapela on 082 600 6386
For media interviews: Please email
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