IEC to hold voter registration in March

“Voter registration weekend will take place on 5th and 6th March, and we urge citizens to register to vote in numbers.”

“I am satisfied that we are well on track to hold successful 2016 municipal elections. They will be free, fair, credible and smooth,” chief electoral officer Mositho Moepya said at the launch in Johannesburg of the upcoming 2016 local government elections.

The date for the elections is yet to be announced by the ministry of cooperative governance and traditional affairs.

Moepya said there were 24,9 million registered voters on the voter’s roll, a slight decline compared to the 25,3 million in the previous elections.

“The reason for that is that voter number tends to decline between elections, due to the removal of deceased persons from the voters’ roll.”

The process of demarcation of municipal boundaries by the Demarcation Board had also resulted in the reduction of number of municipalities from 278 to 257, he said.

“There is a similar reduction in voting wards. The voting stations are now 22,513, but we expect that they would hit 22,600 once they are all finalised.” - ANA