By Kaya 959 Reporter
A final tally has revealed that 1.7 million people made their way to voting stations over the special two-day registration weekend.
The Electoral Commission said most of those who showed up to check their details or register for the first time were women.
The Electoral Commission confirmed that 433 198 registered to vote for the first time.
“The province with the highest registration activity is KwaZulu-Natal with 358 384. This is followed by Gauteng province with 315 282. In third place is the Eastern Cape with 240 514,” Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said.
He said women represented at least 91% of voters at stations.
“Persons registering as voters for the first time were 433 198. This accounts for 25 per cent of the total registration activity. Voters who were re-registering in the same or changed voting districts account for 1 277 811 applications. This is indicative that the message calling on voters to update their details to accord with political boundaries in which they are residents continues to resonate,” Mamabolo said.
He said youngsters in the age category 16-29 account for 402 401 of the new registrations.
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Digital registrations
Since its inception in July, the online registration portal has processed 499 488 applications.
On Sunday, 121 414 applicants used this digital channel of registration. Our expectation is that the use of the portal will remain on the top-end for most of today as people use the remaining hours to register.
This digital channel provides voters the convenience of use in terms of time of application as well as place of application,” Mamabolo said.
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma officially gazetted November 1 as the date for the local government elections.
The candidate nomination process will now close at 5pm on 21 September 2021. Final lists of candidates will be published on 29 September 2021 and candidates will be issued with certificates on 1 October 2021.
Copies of the provisionally compiled voters roll will be made available to electoral contestants between 21 and 23 September 2021. The Commission will make decisions in relation to objections raised on Friday, 24 September 2021. The voter roll will be certified on 26 September 2021.
Applications for special votes opened today and will close on 4 October 2021. Special votes will be cast on both the 30 and 31 October 2021. Applicants who are unable to visit voting stations due to infirmity will be visited at homes or places of confinement whilst all other successful candidates will cast special votes at the voting stations.
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