CAPE TOWN – The Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Western Cape is fully prepared for the upcoming Voter Registration Weekend scheduled for 18 and 19 November. All 1,572 voting stations across the province will be operational to facilitate voter registration for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.
According to South African Government News Agency, the voting stations will be open from 8 am to 5 pm on both days. The commission has recruited a total of 4,698 staff for the registration weekend, of which 2,707 are unemployed individuals. The staff includes 2,096 individuals under the age of 35, with the majority being female (3,646) and 63 persons with disabilities.
The voting stations in the province comprise various types of structures, including 29 temporary structures, 687 schools, and others such as community halls, libraries, and church buildings. To assist in the registration process, the IEC is deploying 3,144 Voter Management Devices (VMDs), which are portable tablet devices equipped with the latest app upgrades. These devices, once fully charged, can operate offline for approximately 72 hours.
A national VMD dry run was conducted on 28 October 2023 to ensure the readiness of the staff and equipment for the registration weekend. This exercise involved staff being present at the voting stations with the VMDs.
The Western Cape IEC has urged voters who have changed their residential addresses to re-register to ensure they are allocated to the correct segment of the voters’ roll. It is also vital for registered voters to verify their details, especially their current addresses and the location of their voting stations, as some venues may have changed.
The IEC emphasized that this verification is crucial to enable all eligible voters to participate in the upcoming elections. Besides in-person registration at voting stations, the IEC also facilitates registration at local offices during office hours and offers online registration at www.elections.za for convenience.
As of 12 November 2023, there are 3,128,995 registered voters in the Western Cape, and this number is anticipated to grow in the weeks following the registration weekend.