By Christopher Buda and Hope Ntanzi
As South Africans get ready to mark their “X” on May 29 in the 2024 provincial and general elections, the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has introduced significant changes to voting protocols.
Previously, in the provincial and general elections, the IEC offered voters a degree of flexibility as they could vote at any voting station in the same province, but in these elections, voters will be required to vote at the voting station where they are registered if they want to be presented with all three voting ballots.
Voters who could not vote at their registered voting station are now required to make an application to vote at a different station and may cast a special vote.
These changes are driven by the extra ballot, which has been introduced to accommodate independent candidates after amendments were made to the Electoral Act last year.
The three ballots
The IEC will present voters with three ballot papers instead of the previous two. The third ballot is to accommodate the fact that for the first time, independent candidates are allowed to run for a seat in Parliament, or the provincial legislature.
“This enhancement allows voters to make more specific choices: The National Ballot for selecting a political party for the National Assembly, the Regional Ballot to choose between parties or independent candidates for National Assembly seats within their province, and the Provincial Ballot to elect parties or independents for their provincial legislature,” said Simon Mamabolo, IEC Gauteng spokesperson.
The IEC highlights that the goal of this development is to provide voters with a wider range of political representation options.
The IEC also highlights improvements in the transparency and accountability of the electoral process.
Procedures for inspecting voter rolls and nominating candidates have been improved.
Moreover, the ballot papers have been redesigned to include the full names of the parties and photos of their leaders, aiding voter recognition.
Special votes
For voters requiring to cast a special vote, the IEC offers a dispensation for those who are ill, bed-ridden, or unable to travel to voting stations. It also allows ordinary people to cast a special vote if they will be unavailable or out of the country on May 29.
For the frail who require a special vote at home, they must request to be visited to cast a special vote from home.
Special votes will be cast on May 27 and 28. IEC officials will conduct home visits for the frail, while special voters who have prior permission will be allowed to cast their vote at their voting station. The deadline to apply for a special vote is May 3, 2024.
For a special vote, the online application for a special vote can be found on the IEC website. Alternatively, voters can visit their local IEC office or apply for a special vote via SMS by sending their identity number to 32249.
Voting outside your voting station
This is one of the key changes that have been adopted by the IEC for the May elections.
The IEC’s KZN provincial spokesperson Thabani Ngwira said the changes were being made in line with electoral amendments. He explained that voting outside your normal voting station meant voters would only receive two ballots, instead of three.
“Previously, for National and Provincial Elections, if you are a registered voter, you could walk into any of the voting stations, provide proof of your registration and you were allowed to vote.
“If you are within the province where you register you will receive two ballots, National and Provincial, however, if you are outside (the province) you receive only the national ballot. All this has been changed by the amendment of the Electoral Act.’’
Ngwira said if a registered voter was aware they would be outside their voting district, they could notify the Chief Electoral Officer of their intention to vote outside of the voting district where they are registered.
“They must specify the exact voting station where they intend to cast their ballot.
“This amendment will assist the IEC to conduct proper planning for the elections, that the required number of ballot papers are delivered at voting stations to avoid running out of ballot papers,” he said.
Ngwira said a list of voters voting in according with the Section 24(A) notice would be displayed at the voting station and once a voter had scanned their ID on the Voter Management Device (VMD), the device would inform the IEC official how many ballots a voter must receive.
South Africans voting abroad
In terms of South Africans who are abroad, they can also vote abroad, but they have to inform the IEC prior to the polls. Voters abroad are only entitled to vote for the national election, meaning they would only receive one ballot.
“The VEC10 form allows registered South Africans voters living abroad to declare their intent to vote and select and their preferred overseas voting station. On the election day, these voters must cast their ballot in person at their specific South African embassy or high commission court,” the IEC’s spokesperson Kate Bapela explained.
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