The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has distanced itself from a widely circulated message claiming that the commission has granted permission for everyone over the age of 60 to cast a special vote on 27th and 28th of May at the polling station where they are registered.
The Commission says the message does not come from them.
The Electoral Commission says the general principle of election administration is that voters must vote where they are registered.
However, in the event a voter intends to be in a different voting district on voting day, they must notify the Commission of their intended absence from their voting district and must identify the voting station where they wish to cast the vote.
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Special Vote
Eligible voters wanting to apply for a special vote have until the 3rd of May to do so.
A special vote allows a registered voter to apply to the Electoral Commission to vote on a predetermined day before election day.
Those applicable to apply for a special vote are registered voters who cannot travel to their voting station because they are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant, or are unable to vote on election day.
The IEC’s Hlengiwe Dlamini says voters who are unable to come to the voting station on the 29th for various reasons, they are either ill or disabled or pregnant or they wont be around their home Voting district on election day.
Those voters are able to apply for a special vote and that application happens from the 16 April to 03 May. We still have a few days so voters have to apply to the Electoral Commission.
⏰Time is running out! Apply for your special vote by Friday, 3 May 2024. Home visits are for those who can’t travel, and special voting at stations is for those who can’t be there on Election Day. Remember, there’s NO age-based access—everyone must apply! #SAelection24 pic.twitter.com/q0tMOU2dOk
— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) April 30, 2024
