Apply to cast your special vote before applications close on Friday

The deadline is looming for those who wish to apply for a special vote in this year’s National and Provincial Elections (NPE). 

According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), all applications for special votes for home and voting station visits opened on 15 April 2024 and will close on Friday, 3 May 2024.  

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

Special voting will be conducted on the two days preceding Election Day – on 27 and 28 May 2024, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Voters can apply as follows:

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

• By SMSing your identity number to 32249 (R1.00 per SMS) for voting station visit only.

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

• 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. 

“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.” 

However, in the event a voter intends to be in a different voting district on Voting 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 17 May 2024. 

South Africa will hold its elections on 29 May 2024. President Cyril Ramaphosa has also declared Election Day as an additional public holiday in terms of Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act 36 of 1994. – SAnews.gov.za