The long awaited 5th National and Provincial election has finally arrived. The gun salute for this year’s elections heralded the start this week when some 26 000 registered South African voters will be able to cast their votes overseas.
This privilege, however, is only for a selected few voters who applied well in time and furthermore the venues are limited to some major overseas cities.
1. GENERAL FACTS ABOUT THE MAY 2014 ELECTIONS
It is by now common knowledge that voting for the general public, who are duly registered voters for the National / Provincial elections in South Africa, will take place on Wednesday 7th of May 2014.
Special voting will, however, also take place on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th of May. This will only be afforded to the following voters who have applied for a special vote and have been approved by the Independent Electoral Commission:
• Those who are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant and are unable to travel to a voting station and wish to be furnished with a ballot paper at a specified physical address;
• An officer serving in the election or a member of the security services on duty in connection with the election and will be absent from the voting station where he/she are registered to vote;
• Those who are absent from the voting district in which they are registered to vote on 7th May.
No less than 946 voters in Kouga have registered to cast a special vote.
If you are registered to vote it is of the utmost importance that you must bring your ID document with you to the voting station. Seeing that this is the National / Provincial election, voters will normally have two ballot papers – one for the National Parliament and one for the Provincial Legislature.
Voters who are registered to vote in the Eastern Cape will be entitled to go to any voting station in the Eastern Cape and cast their two votes. If, however, they vote at a voting station where they are not registered the will have to fill in form VEC 4 in the voting station. Voters are encouraged to vote at the voting stations where they are registered if this is at all possible.
Voters from other provinces who are visitors to the Eastern Cape, who are registered to vote, will also be entitled to go to any voting station in the Eastern Cape on 7th of May, but they may only cast one vote for the National Parliament. Such visitors will thus not be able to cast a second vote for the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Voting hours at all voting stations on the 7th of May will be between 07h00 in the morning to 21h00 in the evening. We strongly recommend that all voters do go and vote early in morning.
Voters are also advised to check whether the two ballot papers issued to them in the voting station are properly stamped at the back in their presence. During counting of the votes ballot papers which are not stamped at the back will be discarded.
kougademocrat 
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