INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION BY JESSIE TAYLOR
Preparing for free and fair elections
A
s South Africans head to the polls later this month, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has said that it is prepared for the country's seventh democratic election. The elections will take place on Wednesday 29 May and more than 27.79 million voters - the highest since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, are eligible to cast their votes in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections. In preparation for the elections, the ICE has begun printing the ballot papers and has unveiled details such as security plans and the process for special voting.
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CANDIDATES AND VOTING STATIONS Among the work done by the IEC has been to host the signing of the Electoral Code of Conduct by political parties and independent candidates contesting the elections. This year, 70 political parties and 11 independent candidates have been published by the IEC as final contestants in the elections. There are over 14 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the National and Provincial Legislatures. “The finalisation of the list of candidates contesting seats in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections means that the Commission can now
go ahead with the printing of ballot papers for the elections. The 27.79 million registered voters will receive three ballot papers to elect candidates to represent them in the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures," the IEC said. The Electoral Commission has also published the list of addresses of the 23 292 voting stations that will be used in these elections, as well as the route for mobile voting stations. The highest number of voting stations will be in Kwazulu-Natal (4 974), Eastern Cape (4 868) and Limpopo (3 216). The full list can be found on the Electoral Commission’s website.