‘All systems go for voter registration’

IT’S all systems go for the final voter registration drive taking place today and tomorrow ahead of the local government elections on November 1.

This was the optimism expressed by Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chief executive Sy Mamabolo, who said the commission was ready to carry out the registration process.

He said the commission was looking forward to receiving potential voters at its 23 151 registration stations across the country.

The stations are expected to be in operation from 8am to 5pm to enable eligible voters to register.

Potential voters visiting the stations were urged to comply with Covid-19 safety protocols such as covering their noses and mouths with a face mask or cloth, sanitise and keep a minimum of 1.5m social distance from each other.

All South African voters in possession of their barcoded IDS and smart card IDS or a temporary identification certificate can register in the wards where they resided.

While it was important that voters should indicate an address or a description of a place where they live, Mamabolo said proof of address won’t be a requirement for registration.

“Jurisprudence from our courts provides that the commission must record a voter’s address and ensure that each voter is registered within a ward in which they are ordinarily resident,” he said.

Mamabolo said the essence of the registration was to create a platform for citizens to exercise their right to vote.

Regarding the readiness of the commission, he announced that a total of 48 899 registration officials were trained to carry out the registration process.

Officials will for the first time since 1998 make use of Voter Management

Devices (VMDS), which replaced the erstwhile “Zip-zip” machines.

The commission was confident that officials were well trained to handle the process as they underwent online training modules related to theoretical concepts associated with the constitutional role of the commission as well as voter registration processes.

Mamabolo said: “The VMDS will essentially operate in online mode in most parts of the country.

“In parts of the country where internet connection is not strong or reliable, the VMDS have been provisioned to operate in offline mode.”

The VMDS will be able to record transactions and perform verification based on data stored locally on each device in offline mode.

“As soon as the VMD gets into an area of signal it will automatically and without prompting upload the transactions stored to the memory of the device,” said Mamabolo.

People can also use the online registration system to register. The system will remain open until the date of proclamation of the elections, which is expected to be September 20.

To date, at least 156 651 voters had successfully used the IEC’S online portal launched in July.

Voters can confirm their registration online on the IEC app, by calling 0800 11 8000 or sending an ID number to 32810 via SMS.