The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says 700 000 new voters have been added to the voters’ roll ahead of this year’s National and Provincial elections.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said this when the electoral commission briefed the media on the outcomes of the final voter registration weekend at the Imbizo Media Centre in Cape Town on Tuesday.
“The Electoral Commission is pleased to report that over 700 000 new voters registered during the final registration weekend, bringing the total number of registered voters on the voters’ roll to 26 727 921.
“Most encouragingly, of the 703 794 new registrations, over 81% [574 899] are under 30 years old. This means that the youth have heeded the call to register,” he said.
The announcement comes after some government departments and political parties, among others, put in a last ditch effort over the weekend to urge citizens to come out in their numbers to either register to vote or to check their details at their nearest voting stations.
The Department of Home Affairs extended the working hours at its offices to ensure that people who have not collected their identity documents or those wanting to apply for temporary identity documents are able to do so.
Mamabolo said when registration figures are combined with new registrations during the March 2018 registration weekend, about 1.1 million new voters have been added to the voters’ roll ahead of the upcoming elections.
“Of these new voters, 52% are women and 48% are men. Nearly half