An increase in youth representation in one of the highest voters’ roll registered since 2011 has been recorded –  IEC

Johnathan Paoli

THE Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said at a media briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday that 27.4 million South African citizens have thus far been registered, meaning a 1.2% growth since the mean of 2011 at 23.6 million following the second and final weekend of voter registration.

IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said with the recent addition of 1.2 million new voters, many of whom are first-time voters, the elections of 2024 would prove to be historic.

The commission said it had noted an increase in the representation of young people on the voters’ roll compared to previous elections, with 48% of young people between the ages of 20 and 29 have registered to vote for this year’s election, indicating an improvement in the interest of young voters to participate in the polls.

Mamabolo said that this year’s growth proved to be the second highest, after a growth of 1.8