Home Affairs offices in South Africa opened Friday to assist with identity documents required to register and vote in the 1 November polls.
The final phase of the voter registration has seen the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) confident that the November 1 Municipal elections will see an overwhelming number of voters.
According to Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), yesterday saw 104,000 people registering at centres across the country, with an additional 10,000 going online despite technical glitches that were initially experienced by the new voter management device (VMD).
He said more people have shown interest and it will be sustained over Sunday and Monday.
The online registration system has brought flexibility to the process as it allows for registration to continue beyond the 5pm closing of voting stations.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo further expressed both concern and excitement over the first time use of the VMD, citing teething technical problems in the first two hours of operation, followed by a relatively smooth run.
“We picked up a technical problem in the voter management devices, which are being used on a large scale this weekend. The commission took a conscious decision to bring down the online system in order to resolve a mapping functionality problem.”
Mamabolo also indicated the system’s ability to operate and capture voter’s registration details in an off-line mode during the times when the system experienced difficulties.
