‘It's your democracy, own it’ – IEC unveils 2024 elections logo

Next year’s elections are significant in that, for the first time, independent candidates will be able to contest seats at national and provincial legislatures following the promulgation of the Electoral Amendment Act in April this year.

“Our supporting Information and Communication Technology applications have been or are being re-written anew. These include the Candidate Nomination System and the Results System.

“The portal for the capturing of supporting signatures for unrepresented parties and independent candidates is ready for deployment. We are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s application relating to the quantum of signatures before public release,” said IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo at the launch event in Midrand on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Ramaphosa signs Electoral Amendment Bill

The sixth National Assembly and the nine provincial legislatures’ terms of office ends in the middle of May 2024.

The seventh Parliament must be elected within 90 days from that date.

The president and premiers are tasked with announcing the election dates after conducting consultations with the commission.

“Those consultations have commenced but are yet to be concluded. A similar framework obtains in respect to provincial legislatures where the provincial premiers are entrusted responsibility to call and set a date of election after consulting with the commission," said Mamabolo. 

‘We anticipate that, as has been the case in the three decades, that the date for provincial elections will be harmonised with the national elections.”

There are currently 26.2 million names on the voters’ roll, of which 95% have a complete address recorded against their name.

According to the IEC, women have a greater representation on the voters’ roll at 14.4 million against men whose representation is 11.6 million. The age category with the highest representation is 30-39 years, with 6.6 million voters, followed by the age category 40-49 at 5.8 million, and then the age category 50-59 at 4.4 million.

Young persons in the age category 20-29 account for 3.7 million voters.

When unveiling the 2024 NPE theme and logo, Mamobolo said young people’s penchant to challenge the status quo and take on politicians over matters affecting the citizenry on social media and other platforms presents an opportunity for the IEC to clarify its mandate to deliver next year’s elections.

“To convince citizens, especially young ones, we intend to remind them that this democracy belongs to them and inviting them to take ownership of it as responsible citizens.

“We, therefore, say: ‘It’s your democracy – own it’.”

There are over 23,000 determined voting stations, while over 68,000 election staff are in the final stages of their training. However, the number of trained IEC staff is expected to increase to 300,000 by election time next year.

The voter management device system that was launched for the 2021 local government elections has been improved and will be used in next year’s polls. Just under 40,000 VMDs have been lined up and will be taken through a dry run this Saturday.

Mamobolo also announced the date for the first of two rounds of the voter registration weekend- drive, which takes place on 18-19 November.

The date for the second round is yet to be determined.

ALSO READ: