Elections 2024: How many South Africans applied to vote abroad?

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said it is finalising preparations for the 78 092 South African citizens who applied to cast their special vote abroad. 

Working with the Department of International Cooperation and Cooperation (Dirco), the IEC said it has begun shipping voting materials. 

These include voting booths, ballot boxes and papers, stationery packs, and all the relevant lists. 

The commission said voting out of the country will take place in 111 foreign missions. 

VOTING HOURS EXTENDED

South African citizens in Algiers, Amman, Cairo, Damascus, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Ramallah, Riyadh and Tehran will vote on Friday, 17 May. 

The rest of the 102 missions will make their mark on Saturday, 18 May. 

Click HERE for the complete list of voting stations abroad.

The voting stations will be open from 07:00 to 19:00, allowing 78 092 voters to exercise their right to vote in South Africa’s 2024 national elections.

Meanwhile, in respect of the mission in the United Kingdom, the commission has determined two days of special voting.

These are Saturday and Sunday, 18 and 19 May 2024 from 07:00 to 21:00.

The IEC explained that the extended voting hours are intended to enable proper arrangements for the 24 535 voters registered to cast their vote at the mission. 

Similarly, extended voting hours have been prescribed for the mission in Washington DC and New York. The voting hours are 07:00 to 21:00.

As a reminder, South Africans eligible to vote in South Africa will do so on Wednesday, 29 May.

As per IEC, the largest international voting stations by population are:

The IEC reminded voters that they will need to be present in person at the mission where they are registered or where they successfully applied for by VEC 10 notice, and will vote as follows:

• Present their identity document (ID) book or smartcard or temporary identity certificate to the election official. 
• The left thumbnail of the voter is marked with indelible ink to indicate that they have voted.
• The name of the voter is marked off the list of voters approved to vote at that mission to indicate that the voter has participated in the election.
• The voter is issued with the national compensatory ballot paper.
• The voter will mark the ballot in secret, and place and seal the ballot in an unmarked envelope
• The unmarked envelope is placed in another envelope that is marked with the name, ID number, and the name of the mission where the vote was cast. The use of two envelopes is to ensure the secrecy of the ballot by delinking the voter and the ballot cast
• Election officials take the envelope and place it in a secure ballot box for special votes.

After the voting process, cast national compensatory ballots will be transported through a source channel back to the national office of the Electoral Commission for counting. The votes will be counted in the presence of agents presenting contestants.

The IEC thanked its stakeholders, staff and employees from Dirco for tirelessly working to ensure that registered voters make their mark in the upcoming elections. 

The commission is aware that voting is not possible in some countries for security reasons. Dirco has confirmed that the missions in Sudan, Tel Aviv and Kyiv remain closed. Unavoidably and regrettably, voters registered at these missions will not be able to vote in the forthcoming elections if they were not able to make arrangements by the 22 April deadline to vote at another mission.