More than 600 000 eligible voters visited the opened registration stations on the first day of the final voter registration weekend to register, re-register because they had changed address or to check their details on the voters’ roll.

The Independent Electoral Officer, (IEC) deputy electoral officer, Mosotho Moepya said: “this is a 50% improvement in comparison to the last registration weekend held at the beginning of last month.

“We are excited that approximately 40% of the visitors were people who registered for the first time and 80% percent of them were young people under the age of 30,” he said.

Briefing reporters on the progress of voter registration activity for the final registration weekend on Sunday, he said the last day of the registration weekend is going well with no disruptions in all the nine provinces.

However, he said out of the 20 864 voting stations countrywide, only 12 stations could not open mainly because of flooding.

“Because this is the final registration weekend, the IEC is looking at alternative registrations in these affected communities before Wednesday, 10 March.

“We are expecting that today will be a busy day. The last day of the final registration weekend is always the busiest.

“With proclamation of the election date expected this week, voters will be ensuring that they are correctly registered or verify their registration details to ensure that when proclamation takes place their names will be included on the voters’ roll which will be certified for use in these elections,” he said.

On Saturday, the IEC website had recorded a total of 39 117 hits, while the SMS facility received 58 983 messages and the call centre received more than 12 800 calls from the public enquiring about their registration status or at which station they should register.

“Our young voters are encouraged to follow registration and election developments on our newly created mobile site on mobi.elections.org.za or on twitter on twitter.com/IECLoveyourSA,” he said.

The IEC appeals to political parties to assist in ensuring that voters register or re-register in the voting district where they live.

The Commission continues to provide facilities for voters to verify and check their details on its website and toll free number as well as SMS.

“The IEC is grateful to all its stakeholders for their love of this country and their participation in this young democracy.

“The Commission would like to call on all of us involved in the electoral process to act with dignity and restraint and to always put the interest of our country first.

“In this regard, we urge political parties to encourage voters to participate in this voter registration weekend and to do so by ensuring that voters register in the voting districts where they live.

“We once again appeal to all political parties to ensure these elections will indeed take place in a climate that is conducive to free and fair elections,” he said.

Voters can also SMS their ID number to 32810, contact the call centre toll free on 0800 11 8000 or visit the IEC website to check their registration details.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe announced that the elections will be held on 18 May.

– BuaNews