By OBAKENG MAJE
The Electoral Commission has extended its gratitude to the millions of South Africans who heeded the call to use the registration weekends to register for the forthcoming National and Provincial Elections (NPE2024). The IEC spokesperson, Kate Bapela said the two registration weekends have given the country a growth of 1,2 million on the voters’ roll.

Bapela further said following these two registration drives, the voters’ roll now stands at 27.4 million. She added that, regarding the past registration weekend, over 2 060 754 citizens interacted with the Commission by either visiting the 23 303 voting stations or using the online voter registration portal.

“The interactions ranged from applying for registration as new voters or updating the registration details in the case of those already registered. Of the 2 million transactions recorded this past weekend, 457 384 or 22% were new entrants on the voters’ roll. A total of 1 606 370 or 88% inspected and updated their registration details.

“This is in line with the message that a voter must register and vote in the voting district where they reside, unless they notify the Commission of an intention to vote elsewhere.
The applications at voting stations totalled 1 818 379, whereas the online applications gave a total yield of 240 789,” she said.

Bapela said in terms of the overall provincial outcomes, Kwazulu-Natal recorded 2510 670 transactions, Gauteng 452 596, the Eastern Cape comes in third at 305 460 transactions. She said regarding new registrations, 77% are young persons under the age of 29 entering the voters’ roll for the first time.

“New registrations for young person’s stands at 352 524. KwaZulu-Natal again leads with young person’s registration at 103 647 followed by Gauteng at 82 168 and in third is the Eastern Cape at 43 673. The gender split of the new registration is on this occasion, evenly split with female registrations accounting for 233 364, which is 51% whilst the male new registrations account for 224 020, which is 49%.

“As indicated, the voters’ roll now stands at 27.4 million. Gauteng remains the province with the biggest voting population at 6.4 million voters, followed by Kwazulu-Natal at 5.7 million, then the Eastern Cape at 3.4 million voters. The age category 20-29 at 4.3 million now represents 48% measured against the voting age population,” said Bapela.

She said the online registration portal has greater usage in the province of Gauteng at 99 522, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 43 240 and the Western Cape at 33 822. Bapela said young persons under the age of 29 account for 47% usage of the online registration portal.

Bapela said females are more likely
to use the online portal more than males do at 58% or 139 313.

“With two registration weekends under its belt, the Commission now turns its focus on ramping up preparations for the NPE 2024. The next phase of the electoral programme includes these important activities. The Commission is calling for submissions from interested parties on the distribution of the
200 regional seats of the National Assembly.

“The period for public submissions closes on 20 February 2024. The Commission will consider the submissions and representations together with data voter population data in each region to determine the spread of the 200 seats. This work is an important precursor to candidate nomination as it will enable political parties to know how many candidates they may field in each respective region to national list,” said Bapela.

She said the number of candidates on a list may not exceed available on any election segment. Bapela said, furthermore, following public consultation, the Commission has now determined the quantum of election deposits for those political parties and independents who intend to contest the forthcoming elections.

“A political party that contests the compensatory seats in the National Assembly and in all the nine regions will need to deposit an amount of R300 000. Furthermore, a political party will have to pay R50 000 for each of the provincial legislatures.

“A political party that contests the compensatory seats in the National Assembly and in at least one region will deposit R225 000 and R25 000 for each additional region. Independent candidates will deposit R20 000 for each region they contest and R 15 000 for
the election of a provincial legislature,” she said.

Bapela said deposits are refunded to parties and independent representatives that win a seat. She said the Gazette can be found here (http://tinyurl.com/EAARegulations).

“The Commission will also imminently publish its determination of the number of seats in each provincial legislature. The determination also follows a period of public consultation and
representation by interested parties as well as data related to population in each province.

“The Electoral Commission is pleased to announce that a portal to capture signatures
supporting nomination to contest Elections NPE 2024 is now available for use by
unrepresented political parties and independent candidates. Independent candidates must be supported by 1000 voters in a region or province in which they stand,” said Bapela.

She said unrepresented parties must be endorsed by the equivalent of 15% of the quota of votes per seat in the previous election for a region or provincial legislature they intend to contest. The link for the platform is https://online.elections.org.za/MyIEC.

Bapela said thry remind those voters who are still not registered to go online or visit the offices of the Electoral Commission in municipalities to register.

“Registration will remain open until
proclamation of the election date. The Commission reminds eligible voters of the general rule in elections. That is, a person
votes at a voting station where they are registered.

“The only exception to the general rule is that a voter may vote outside of the voting district of registration upon notification to Commission by a date to be regulated by the Election Timetable. Details of the modalities of
notification will be outlined in the not-too-distant future,” she said.

Bapela said they remind the nation to use their SMS 32810 line to check their registration status. She said their Contact Centre on 0800 11 8000 remains available for basket of assistance to register.

“Our WhatsApp line: 0600 88 000 is also available to assist voters,” she said.

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