In anticipation of the 2004 general elections, the Electoral Commission (IEC) announced at a briefing in Pretoria yesterday that, it will, on January 24 and 25, 2004, again open 17 000 voting stations so that existing South Africans who have never registered, can vote.

During the first registration period which took place on November 8 and 9, 2003, around 3 515 372 people visited the 16 821 voting stations to register, re-register or confirm their details on the voters’ roll.

The IEC said that the national common voters’ roll is currently sitting at 19,4-million registered voters.

The IEC stated that in early December 2003, it conducted the second phase of its targeted registration campaign, resulting in total registration activity of 109 969 voters.

Of these, 33 326 were reportedly new registrations and 76 643 were re-registrations.

Yesterday, the IEC unveiled a short message service (SMS) facility, which allows a voter to confirm their registration details through a cell phone.

In addition, the organisation announced that it has also enhanced its Internet facility to make it possible for voters to access information on where to register.

The IEC mentioned that registration figures of young people remain a source of concern for the organisation, as a significant number of the youth still need to register. Persons who wish to vote overseas must be registered in the voting district where they are ordinarily resident in South Africa, and present their ID and their passport.

In collaboration with the department of Foreign Affairs, work has allegedly already begun to give effect to this provision.