Tuesday marks the second and last day for the casting of special votes, with the rest of the country looking forward to taking to the polls on Wednesday, 29 May in the 2024 General Elections.
South Africans are electing the leadership of the seventh administration out of the 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates that were published by the IEC as final contestants in these elections.
In total, there are over 14 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National and Provincial Legislatures. There are 27.79 million registered voters.
Out-of-country voting has already taken place at 111 foreign missions, with more than 78 000 South African citizens living in other countries having cast their vote on 17, 18 and 19 May 2024.
Special votes opened on Monday and will close today at 5pm.
In total, 1.6 million special votes were approved for those who are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant, or cannot vote at their voting station on Election Day.
According to the Electoral Commission’s Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Masego Sheburi, as at 2pm on Monday afternoon, an estimated 201 794 voting station visits of special votes were processed at 22 626 service points.
“A total of 624 593 voters will be visited by 62 000 officials over the two days, from the Electoral Commission, accompanied by political party agents and observers, where they are available,” he said on Monday.
Addressing media at the National Results Operation Center (ROC) in Midrand on Monday, Sheburi reminded those who qualified for special votes that they will only be visited at their given addresses once.
“If the voter is not present at the given address, they will be able to cast their vote at the voting station where they are registered,” he said.
Sheburi clarified that in the instance where a voter has made two transactions, the last will override the first.
“This is done to protect the integrity of the elections and prevent voters from voting twice,” he said.
Sheburi expressed the IEC’s satisfaction with first day of special votes, which went without any major incidents. – SAnews.gov.za
