Electoral Commission announces dates for second and final voter registration weekend

6 December 2023

The Electoral Commission announces the dates for the second and final voter registration weekend ahead of the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

The country’s 23 296 voting stations will open from 08h00 to 17h00 on Saturday 3 February and Sunday 4 February 2024 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to

inspect and if necessary update their registration details.

Following the first registration weekend held on 18 and 19 November 2023, the voters’ roll contains 26.8 million voters with 568 374 of those registering for the first time during that period. The Electoral Commission is hopeful that the second registration weekend will build on and surpass the satisfactory turn out recorded in November.

Citizens aged 16 years and older can register to vote. All they need are a South African identity document (ID), either a green barcoded ID book, smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate.

When registering, voters will need to provide their address or a description of where they live to allow the Electoral Commission to place them on the correct segment of the voters’ roll. However, proof of an address is not a requirement to register as a voter.

Similarly, South Africans living abroad will have an opportunity to register at South Africa’s 120 high commissions, embassies and consulates. The Electoral Commission is pleased to confirm that South Africans abroad may register at high commissions, embassies and consulates on 26, 27 and 28 January 2024.

The Electoral Commission wishes to acknowledge and communicate its appreciation to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) for its continued collaboration in ensuring the sustained franchise of South Africans abroad.

The Commission takes pleasure in announcing a new and additional voter registration modality for South Africans living abroad. For the first time, South Africans abroad may now register as voters using the online self-registration portal by visiting https://online.elections.org.za/voterportal and capturing their details and uploading a scanned image of their identity document.  The portal will extend convenience to this category of voters. 

In addition, voter registration will also be conducted in correctional centers around the country to allow inmates to exercise their right to vote. Working with the Department of Correctional Services, the Commission will undertake the registration of inmates in the correctional centres between 30 January and 1 February 2024. Family members of those who are incarcerated in correctional facilities are requested to deliver the identity documents of inmates to them ahead of this registration drive.

The Electoral Commission will be supporting the registration drive with the roll-out of national communication and education campaign to encourage participation. The key thrust of the campaign will retain its youth focus and urging young, first-time voters to register.

The Electoral Commission’s contact centre continues to be operational to assist citizens with queries and information about the registration process and information related to location of voting station. The contact centre, which can be reached on 0800 11 8000, operates from 08h00 to 17h00 weekdays.

The online voter registration portal remains available until the date of proclamation of the elections for first-time voters to register and for those who are already registered to update their registration details.

Registered voters can visit the Electoral Commission website (www.elections.org.za) to check their current registration details and voting station location. They can also SMS their ID number to 32810 to receive an SMS containing the address of their voting station (charged at R1).

The Electoral Commission appeals to all stakeholders including expatriate communities, political parties, aspirant independent candidates, government departments and entities, the media and civil society organisations, including labour, business, NGOs, religious-based organisations, traditional leaders and all community organisations to support the registration drive and encourage voter registration ahead of the elections. It’s your democracy; own it!

Issued by Kate Bapela on behalf of IEC, 6 December 2023