The Electoral Commission (IEC) says it had good public cooperation during the voter registration weekend to ensure the process was conducted in a COVID-19 compliant manner.
The Local Government Elections are scheduled for November 1, 2021.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says, “We are happy that those who came to stations adhered to the prescribed protocols. They were willing to social distance, sanitise, they had their masks on and so on. There was very good cooperation from members of the public. We want to take that into the election process.”
LGE 2021 | Voter registration – drama, protests, service delivery promises, and more:
The Constitutional Court will on Monday deliver judgment on whether the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s reopening of the candidate nomination process was lawful.
Following the apex court’s order that Local Government Elections take place by November 1 this year, the IEC reopened the process.
It did this on the basis that the Constitutional Court order of September 3 authorised it to amend the election timetable in accordance with a new proclaimed date.
The IEC contends that allowing voters to register goes hand in hand with them being allowed to vote for candidates of their choice.
The Democratic Alliance has taken issue with the IEC’s decision saying it privileges some parties such as the African National Congress that were unable to get in all their candidates to the IEC by the August 23 deadline.
Political parties react to IEC’s election timetable:
The IEC says although voting stations closed at 5PM yesterday, people can still register online until midnight on Monday night.
Special voters are also expected to be registered on Monday.
