Johannesburg – In a significant turnout for South Africa’s democratic process, over one million citizens have registered to vote during the first day of the Voter Registration Weekend, according to the Electoral Commission.
According to South African Government News Agency, the commission reported that by 08:00 AM on the second day, 91% of the 23,296 voting stations had opened, with the remaining stations operational before 08:30 AM. By midday, a total of 609,447 registration transactions had been recorded at the various voting stations across the country.
In addition to in-person registrations, the Electoral Commission achieved an all-time milestone with over 100,000 online registrations. As of today, the number of online registrations has increased to 40,000. However, some challenges with online registrations were noted. The commission is currently addressing issues related to the “pending” message received by voters, often due to unreadable ID images or incorrect uploads.
The commission emphasized the importance of following system prompts carefully when uploading ID images to ensure successful online registration. Despite these challenges, the commission praised the thousands of South Africans who have utilized both online platforms and visited registration stations to register, re-register, or verify their details.
As the Voter Registration Weekend progresses, the Electoral Commission encourages those who have not yet registered to take advantage of the remaining hours of the day. This call to action underlines the importance of civic participation in the country’s electoral process.