With only a few months to go, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has concluded the revision of voting-district boundaries.
The commission has created new voting districts, while others have been disestablished and some existing voting districts have changed shape.
Chief electoral officer of the IEC Sy Mamabolo said the revision of voting-district boundaries, which is known as re-delimitation, has resulted in 23 296 voting districts compared to 23 148 in the 2021 municipal elections. It marks an increase of 148 voting districts.
“This increase in voting districts, however slight, implies increased access and convenience to voting for voters. Unlike wards, voting districts are not political boundaries, but are the creation of the commission for the purposes of electoral efficiency and planning,” said Mamabolo.
Mamabolo also indicated that the IEC will embark on a campaign of targeted communication and re-registration of voters affected by the voting-district boundary changes from October 2 to October 27.
According to the legislation, eligible voters should be registered in the voting district in which they ordinarily reside in order to participate in elections, he said.
IEC stated that the campaign targeting voters affected by the voting district boundary changes will be done using a combination of methods, which take into account the varied social backgrounds.
He said the methods to be used will comprise trained fieldworkers who will walk walking from house to house in certain affected voting districts, and the use of direct messaging with affected voters and other digital channels to inform them of the need to re-register in their new voting districts.
“Our fieldworkers, identifiable by identification card and vests clearly marked with IEC branding, will be equipped with voter-management devices to re-register voters on the spot,” said Mamabolo.
The IEC will host the first registration weekend for the next year’s national and provincial elections on November 18 and 19. All voting stations will be open from 8am to 5pm on the Saturday and Sunday.
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