This weekend is the last weekend that polling stations will open for people to register to vote – and it's not just your name that you need to check is on the list.
This weekend is the last weekend that polling stations will open for people to register to vote – and it's not just your name that you need to check is on the list.
At the end of last week, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) decided to postpone all by-elections – including those those scheduled for 6 April 2016 – because of what they described as "continued uncertainty regarding the validity of the voters’ roll where voters’ addresses are not in the possession of the Electoral Commission".
Around eight million people registered on the roll have no conventional address information against their name. A further eight million have only a partial address.
The Commission made the decision "in the interest of free and fair elections" following the recent order by the Electoral Court to postpone by-elections in Tlokwe, scheduled for 24 February 2016.
This after they'd found in favour of a group of independent candidates who said that IEC had not sufficiently complied with a November 2015 Constitutional Court ruling which said that addresses of voters must be included in the voters roll.
The independent candidates brought the action because of concerns that the ANC was liable to move people into certain wards in order to affect the vote in those wards and, without sufficient address information, there is nothing to stop this happening.
This may have longer term implications for the municipal elections due to take place before mid-August this year.
The Electoral Commission on Friday met with the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs along with the relevant provincial MECs to discuss the postponement of the by-elections. The Commission used the opportunity to brief the Minister and MECs on the impact of the Electoral Court ruling on the inclusion of addresses on the certified voters’ roll for by-elections and the risk of the results of any by-elections being set aside pending clarity on this matter from the Constitutional Court.
The Commission will review the postponement of by-elections once the Constitutional Court has handed down judgment on the appeal – although its decision will also be informed by the imminent 2016 Municipal Elections which in terms of the Constitution must be held between 18 May and 16 August this year.
In the meantime, the Commission is urging all registered voters to use the opportunity of this weekend’s final registration opportunity at voting stations to visit their voting station to confirm and update their address details ahead of the 2016 Municipal Elections.
Approximately two thirds of registered voters currently have partial or no address details captured on the voters’ roll. The opening of all voting stations between 8am and 5pm on Saturday 9 April and Sunday 10 April presents an opportunity for all voters to refresh and confirm their address details at the convenience of their local voting station.
Registered voters can SMS their ID number to 32810 (cost R1) to confirm if they are registered and to find out if additional address details are required for them. They can also contact the Contact Centre on 0800 11 8000 between 7am and 9pm for assistance.
