By The Electoral Commission (IEC) says it is ready to welcome voters who have qualified for special votes from today, 27 and 28 May 2024, during the national and provincial elections.
According to the Commission, 1 668 076 South Africans have registered and have been approved for the special votes taking place from today; a total of 624,593 voters will be visited by trained election officers at their homes or places of confinement.
The provincial breakdown of the Special Votes is as follows: Gauteng (335,480), KwaZulu-Natal (320,010), Eastern Cape (286,059), Limpopo (159,800), Western Cape (137,558), North-West (132,627), Mpumalanga (126,112), Free State (86,908), and Northern Cape (83,504).
The IEC says officials from the Commission will visit homes and institutions of care, as well as welcome, at voting stations across the country, those voters approved to vote by special vote.
The Commission has also made arrangements for persons living with disabilities with trained officials to assist them where assistance is needed. The IEC says it will be working together with the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB), and has developed a voting aid, the Universal Ballot Template (UBT), to enable all citizens to exercise their vote confidently and confidentially.
The UBT can be used by:
Blind and partially-sighted people;
Low-vision users;
People with an unsteady hand;
The elderly;
People with low literacy; and
People with motor and nervous conditions which do not allow for a steady hand.
The IEC is calling on registered voters to check their voting stations ahead of election day. A number of channels are available to assist voters with checking their registration. These are:
by SMS ID number to 32810
Using voting station finder application on website
Contact centre on 0800 11 8000
The IEC APP downloadable from the App Store or Google Play.
Voting stations will be open between 9am and 5pm at the same time home visits will be undertaken. Only voters who were approved for special votes will be allowed to vote on 27 and 28 May.
