IEC officially launches 2019 elections

The poll is set to take place in May and will be South Africa’s 6th national election since 1994. 

The commission made the announcement at the Gallagher Convention Center in Midrand on Thursday.

“It is palpable that we are not at a point we wish to be in respect of addresses on the voter’s roll. For we require a voter’s roll in which every voter’s details are accurate and up to date. It was, for this reason, we that we approached the Constitutional Court for more time to continue with our ongoing initiative to obtain addresses for every voter on the roll. That request has now been granted until November this year,” said Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo. 

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 He said this will allow the IEC to continue to obtain voters details before, during and after the election. 

Last year, 47 new political parties registered to participate in the election, bringing the number of eligible parties to 285. 

“The electoral commission is still processing a further 37 applications. Of course, this hopefully does not mean we will see a 200-plus party ballot paper. Iif that had to happen I would run away. The registration of a political party and the contestation of an election are not synonymous,” said Mamabolo. 

He said one of the requirements is the payment of R45 000 to contest the provincial election and R200 000 to contest the national election.

South Africans between the ages of 18-30 years are the least registered voters at this stage. 

The IEC will be campaigning for more registrations from this group of voters on its final voter registration weekend from the 26thto the 27thof January. 

“We believe that young South Africans are not necessarily apathetic, but the reality is that they converse differently from the time that we were young people and receive their information on mobile devices, in particular smartphones. Our campaign has a very youthful feel to it, its energized and we hope it will energize the youth to participate,” said Mamabolo. 

The IEC will also be setting up registration stations at different institutions of higher learning during the orientation week.

The IEC says it is currently in talks with the President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim the election date before its registration weekend.