Johnathan Paoli
The Independent Electoral Commission officially launched its National and Provincial Elections 2024 campaign at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, in Gauteng on Tuesday.
The commission unveiled its communications strategy for the upcoming polls, including its election slogan and logo. Final voter registration dates and the timeline for the polls have been confirmed, with registration set to take place over the weekend of 18 and 19 November.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said that in light of the increasing number of South Africans who do not vote despite being eligible, the commission hoped to raise awareness about the importance of the elections in order to generate a higher voter turnout.
IEC commissioner Janet Yetta Love said earlier this month that she remained worried about declining voter turnout.
Local government elections witnessed the lowest-ever turnout in 2021 since the advent of democracy in 1994.
The focus of the IEC campaign is to encourage eligible young voters to register for next year’s elections.
Mamabolo said the body has embarked on a drive to raise awareness of what voting means for voters and candidates, as well as providing information about the national registration weekend.
He said there are 26.2 million registered voters – 14.4 million women and 11.6 million men – with those aged 30 to 39 having the highest representation with 6.6 million registered voters.
The CEO said that the under-representation of people aged 18 to 35 remains concerning, considering the country’s young population, but laid the blame on accessibility problems and not apathy.
“We think they have had fewer disproportionate chances to register and what we know is that once registered, the majority of them are likely to participate more than any [other] age cohort,” Mamabolo said.
In his keynote address, the IEC Chairperson, Mosotho Moeypa, said: “The commission will continue to strengthen civic and voter education initiatives to make sure that voters are fully informed about their roles and responsibilities in the upcoming elections. This is important because an informed electorate is the bedrock of a thriving democracy.”
Moeypa said independent candidates participating in the polls should exercise patience in relation to the necessary legislative adjustments, following the resolution of a Constitutional Court case regarding details of the amount of support candidates required to qualify.
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