Deadline to apply for special vote in May 29 election looming

The deadline is looming for South Africans who wish to apply for a special vote in this year’s May 29 general elections.

According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), all applications for special votes for home and voting station visits opened on April 15 and will close on Friday.

Home visits are intended for voters who cannot travel to voting stations, while special votes at voting stations are for all the citizens unable to be at the voting station on election day.


Special voting will be conducted on the two days preceding election day, May 27 and 28, from 9am to 5pm.

Voters can apply as follows:

• Using the IEC’s secured online application at www.elections.org.za.

• By SMSing your identity number to 32249 (R1 per SMS) for voting station visits only.

• By visiting your local IEC office and submitting an Appendix 1B form for a special vote at a voting station.

• By visiting your local IEC office and submitting an Appendix 1A form for a home visit special vote. Forms can also be hand-delivered, and someone else can deliver a form on behalf of a voter.

Meanwhile, the IEC has distanced itself from a widely circulated message claiming that it has granted permission for everyone over the age of 60 to cast a special vote on 27 and 28 at the polling station where they are registered.


Vote where you are registered

“This is not a message from the commission. The electoral commission re-emphasises the general principle of election administration that voters must vote where they are registered,” said the IEC.

However, in the event a voter intends to be in a different voting district on election day, such a voter must notify the commission of their intended absence from their voting district and must identify the voting station where they wish to cast the vote.

Known as Section 24A notices, the IEC explained that these are live at www.elections.org.za and will close on May 17.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared election day a public holiday in terms of Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994. – SAnews.gov.za

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