IEC aims for higher turnout in final voter registration drive
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said it is all systems go for this weekend's final voter registration drive ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
A total of 620 political parties have been registered to contest the 4 November polls.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo briefed the media in Pretoria on Wednesday on the state of readiness.
With less than 100 days remaining before the polls, the IEC will deploy 48 212 trained electoral officials to assist eligible voters to register, update their details, or verify their registration information.
The Commission will operate 23 699 voting stations across the country, which will operate from 08h00 to 17h00 on both Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August.
"The Commission calls on all eligible South Africans who have not yet registered as voters, those who are registered but have not yet inspected their address details for completeness, or those who have moved residence since they last registered, to use this final opportunity to secure their place on the voters’ roll," said Mamabolo
During the first voter registration weekend in June, the IEC recorded over 3 million registrations.
In terms of Demographics, Women remain the leading users of the online registration platform, accounting for 61% of all online registration activity.
Young people are also embracing digital registration in significant numbers, with the 16–29 age cohort contributing 50% of all online transactions.
The highest levels of online registration activity were recorded in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
This is the final in-person registration period; however, eligible voters may still register online on the IEC website until the proclamation date is made.
Once the final voter registration weekend concludes, the Commission anticipates that the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) will proclaim the date of the elections.
"The Department of Home Affairs will align its operating hours with the Commission’s voter registration activities, ensuring that eligible voters requiring identity documents have access to the necessary services during the registration weekend," Mamabolo added.
