IEC Lauds Its Online Registration Platform

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has credited its online registration portal for what it described as a successful registration weekend.

The IEC on Monday said it was pleased that over 1.7 million South Africans registered on Saturday and Sunday. This included those who had changed their details on the voters’ roll.

The commission said new applications s stood over 430,000, with the youth making up the majority.

The IEC said new innovations introduced by the online portal had increased the speed at which voter registration applications were processed.

It said approved applications already had the voters’ details and addresses captured on the roll.

Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said: “This digital channel provides voters with the convenience of use in terms of time of application as well as place of application. It will become an anchor mechanism of registration for the future.”

Mamabolo also responded to the recent Constitutional Court judgment that ruled against the DA’s bid to overturn the IEC’s decision to reopen the candidate registration process.

“The Constitutional Court held that the act of amending the timetable in these circumstances is not impeachable. The commission acted lawfully within the parameters of its empowering statutory provisions,” he said.

The IEC said the candidate nomination process would now close at 5 pm on Tuesday.