South Africans abroad can now register to vote

The IEC’s mandate includes the allowance of special votes which is the category that overseas votes falls under. The IEC issued a media statement on 06 December 2023 providing this link to the new portal. It comes as a welcome relief after two months of delays as the portal was meant to be launched on 06 October 2023. They have also announced that an overseas voter registration weekend will take place in person at the 120 foreign missions on 26, 27, 28 January 2024. 

SOUTH AFRICANS ABROAD NOW HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE AHEAD OF THE 2024 ELECTIONS. 

The new system requires South Africans abroad to upload both their ID book or smartcard as well as their SA passport as part of the application process. A number of users have provided feedback that there are glitches on the system which includes it ‘freezing’ or ‘hanging’ during the uploading process or that the system is not able to verify their documents. 

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A few users have also raised questions including those who are already registered but need to amend their details not being able to do so yet. The IEC’s General Manager for Electoral Matters, Mr Granville Adams, responded by saying that ‘registration equates to updating of details. If you are already registered but live abroad and need to change your details, please re-register using the new portal. 

These matters have been raised with the IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer. 

Those abroad are encouraged to Vote Home by initially registering, and also to ensure their passports are valid for the period between May to August 2024 during which the election will be held. The KZN IEC official, Ms Ntombifuthi Masinga stated in a Vuma fm radio station interview recently that the IEC is working towards a possible election date of 22 May 2024. 

It is important to note that those abroad typically vote 10-14 days before election day in SA. This is to allow sufficient time for the votes to reach South Africa in time to be counted. Those abroad will be issued with the national ballot only. As they do not reside in one of the country’s nine provinces thy will be unable to vote for provincial leadership.

In 2019 there were 39,000 registered and 19,000 who voted ‘out of country’. The results show that parties receiving the majority support from abroad were as follows:

DA 74.45% 

ANC 10.83% 

VF+ 4.57%

EFF 3.85%

ACDP 1.7%

Capitalist Party of South Africa 1.17%

With numerous other parties receiving less than 1%

Let us know in the comments if you are registering from abroad or if you have any issues in doing so.

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