Electoral Commission ready for polls

THE Electoral Commission of South Africa is pleased to report that everything is in place and ready for South Africa’s sixth national and provincial elections.

Final preparations will be made for the opening on Monday of the country’s 22924 voting stations. This includes the securing of keys and access to voting station venues and the pitching of 1059 tents where no suitable permanent structures are available.

Today, elections materials will be transported from local warehouses to voting stations ready for the first special votes to be cast from 9am to 5pm.

A total of 774094 voters have been granted permission to cast a special vote on May6 and 7, 452418 (58.4%) through a home visit by election officials and 321 676 voters (41.6%) at their voting stations. The materials include:

◆ More than 60 million ballot papers for the national and nine provincial elections.

◆ Almost 300000 ballot boxes.

◆ Nearly 45 000 voting compartments. ◆ About 25000 voting station arrow signs.

◆ And 56255 stationery packs. The materials will be escorted by police officers and other security personnel to ensure safe delivery.

All special votes cast today and tomorrow – along with all sensitive materials including ballot papers – will then be transported and stored securely overnight at secure storage locations before being transported back to the voting station on Election Day.

On Election Day voting stations will open from 7am until 9pm to allow the 26.7 million registered voters to cast their ballots for the national and provincial elections. Voting stations will be staffed by approximately 189 000 election officials who have volunteered and been trained over the past two months to conduct the elections. There are on average eight election officials per voting station to perform the various aspects of the voting process, including helping voter’s in the queue and checking that they have the right identification documents (only green barcoded ID book, a smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate will be accepted).

Voters can check their voting station location by SMSing their ID number to 32810 (R1), and can reach the Contact Centre at 0800118000 for all enquiries regarding the elections.