The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has assured the country that it is ready to administer special voting today and on Tuesday, ahead of the main elections on Wednesday.
According to the IEC, a total of 2,655,067 voters have been approved for special votes. These cater for registered voters who may be unable to reach voting stations due to physical infirmity or disability, as well as those who may not be available to vote at their registered voting stations on Election Day.
The commission has meanwhile deployed 127,000 electoral officials to facilitate home visits and voting station-based special votes. These officials may be accompanied by party agents and observers to ensure that the process is administered in accordance with electoral requirements.
Briefing the media in Midrand, IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said that a total of 678,525 voters would cast their special votes at their places of residence due to physical infirmity or disability, while 1,976,542 had been approved to vote at their registered voting stations.
‘In respect of home visits, voters will cast special votes at their places of residence due to physical infirmity or disability.
‘IEC officials will visit these voters at the addresses provided in their applications.
‘The commission therefore reminds approved voters to remain available at their addresses during these two days of special voting.
‘In respect of voting station-based special votes, a total of 1.9 million voters have been approved to cast special votes at their voting stations,’ said Mamabolo.
Furthermore, Mamabolo urged voters approved to vote at voting stations to report to the stations where they were registered on either today or Tuesday, during the prescribed voting hours.
‘Given the sheer number of home visits to be made within the two days, often covering vast distances, officials will not return to the same address if they do not find the voters when they arrive there for the first time.
‘However, voters who miss the home visit by election officials on 2 and 3 November are not disenfranchised.
‘Such voters can still visit their voting stations on 4 November to exercise their right to vote,’ explained Mamabolo.
The chief electoral officer sought to assure special voters that the process would be administered under strict procedures to safeguard the secrecy, security and integrity of every ballot.
‘Special votes are administered under strict procedures to protect the secrecy, security and integrity of every ballot cast.
‘Once a home-visit special vote has been cast, the ballot is placed in the prescribed two envelopes, securely stored and retained until counting takes place,’ Mamabolo assured voters.
Meanwhile, Mamabolo highlighted that the commission was working against the clock to reprint millions of ballot papers following the Constitutional Court order in favour of the African National Congress (ANC), after the party challenged the exclusion of its candidates because it had missed the deadline for submitting their names.
‘We are at the point of finalising the distribution of the reprinted ballot papers.
‘There are about 28 million of them, and we are concluding the distribution.
‘The printing itself is complete.
‘It is just the distribution that we are finalising,’ said Mamabolo.
The commission also encouraged voters to monitor local weather forecasts and take the necessary precautions to ensure they could exercise their right to vote.
This follows the South African Weather Service’s forecast of possible rainfall in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape over the next two days, while voters in the North West, Limpopo, Northern Cape and Free State are expected to experience hot weather conditions.
Voting stations will open at 8 am and operate until 5 pm on both days for voters approved to cast special votes at voting stations.
