IEC concludes revision of voting district boundaries

The Electoral Commission has concluded the revision of voting district boundaries in an effort to increase voter access in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

As a result, some new voting districts have been created, others have been disestablished, while some existing ones have changed shape.

The revision of voting district boundaries, a process known as re-delimitation, has given rise to 23 296 voting districts, compared to 23 148 for the 2021 Municipal Elections –  an increase of 148 voting districts, or 0,6%.

“This increase in voting districts, however slight, implies increased access and convenience to voting for voters,” said Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo in a statement.

Unlike wards, voting districts are not political boundaries, but are the creation of the Electoral Commission for the purposes of electoral efficiency and planning.

Mamabolo said the Electoral Commission will embark on a campaign of targeted communication and re-registration of voters affected by the voting district boundary changes on Monday, 2 October 2023. The campaign will continue until 27 October 2023, ahead of voter registration for the forthcoming elections.

By law, eligible voters must be registered in the voting district in which they ordinarily reside in order to participate in elections.

“Nationally there are 1 925 affected voting districts identified for this campaign, the majority of which are in KwaZulu-Natal (774), the Eastern Cape (332) and Limpopo province (296),” said Mamabolo.

Voters are encouraged to check their voter registration status on the Electoral Commission’s Voter Portal.