Johannesburg – The two-day Special Vote begins today, (Monday 27 May 2024), with more than a million voters expected to make their mark.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Tomorrow [Monday] morning at 9 am, in voting stations and homes across the country, South Africans who have registered for special votes will begin to cast their ballots”.
The Electoral Committee (IEC) has approved 1 668 076 Special Vote applications. They will have an opportunity to vote today and tomorrow, (Tuesday 28 May 2024).
Of these, 624 593 are for voters who will be visited at their homes or places of confinement, and 1 043 483 are voters who will vote at voting stations where they are registered.
Special votes will take place from 09:00 to 17:00.
The IEC says: “You’ll need either of the following to vote, your smart ID card, green barcoded ID book, or temporary ID certificate.”
IEC officials will assist the visually impaired in voting.
Voters will receive three different coloured ballots to make one mark on each, representing:
- A national ballot for the National Assembly;
- A regional ballot for the National Assembly;
- A provincial ballot for the Provincial Legislature.
Thousands of South Africans living abroad have already voted.
On Wednesday, (29 May 2024), millions more South Africans will exercise “this most important of democratic rights,” President Ramaphosa said.
He added: “As we cast our votes, we will be vindicating the struggles and sacrifices of the generations before us who fought for this democracy.
“As in every election that we have held since 1994, we expect this election to be held in conditions of peace and stability, to be free and to be fair.”
