Parties have until Tuesday to register candidates for local polls

Political parties have until Tuesday to register candidates for the upcoming local government elections.

The nomination of candidates has been reopened and closes on September 21 at 5pm.

The announcement was made by Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) spokesperson Kate Bapela on Sunday.

In a statement on the registration weekend drive, Bapela said 29,305 voters had been registered using the new Voter Management Devices (VMDs).

“This is in addition to the 598,000 [voters who had] registered by the close of business on Saturday.

The voter management device captures an address and verifies it against ward boundaries.

“The VMDs have been performing admirably today in all provinces.

“The commission also reports that only nine of the 23,151 registration stations did not open today.

“This was mainly because of service-delivery protests.

“The commission continues to work with the [police] and local leaders to resolve the problems,” Bapela said.

She added that 39,519 voters had been registered for the elections using the online portal and encouraged more people to use it.

The online registration platform will stay open until midnight on Monday.

HeraldLIVE