IEC is running out of time for up-to-date voters’ roll

The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) is in a race against time to verify the particulars and addresses of 7.2-million people on the voters roll ahead of the 2019 general election. The credibility of the 2019 poll hinges on the IEC ensuring that the voters roll meets acceptable norms and standards, as prescribed by the Constitutional Court. In June 2016, the Constitutional Court ordered the electoral authority to verify, as well as add, voters’ residential addresses on the roll following a successful application to the court by independent candidates who contested the outcomes of by-elections in Tlokwe, North West, in 2013. The court gave the IEC 18 months to complete the task but suspended the order for the period, paving the way for the August 2016 local government elections to be held. New chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo, who succeeded Mosotho Moepya, will oversee the process of cleaning up the roll. In its annual performance plan tabled in Parliament, the IEC states that one ...