Voting abroad in elections 2014: FAQs • DA Abroad - A Global Network of DA Supporters

South Africans abroad will vote on the 30^th of April 2014. In order to cast your vote, you must have submitted a VEC10 form to the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) by midnight (UTC +2:00) on the 12^th of March 2014, informing them of your intention to vote abroad and indicating where you would like to vote.

In order to vote you must also be on the voter’s roll, and must have BOTH a valid SA ID book and SA passport. You can only vote in-person at your nearest South African Embassy, High Commission or Consulate on the specific day announced for overseas voting.

As a reminder of why you should vote, and why you should be voting for the DA please watch this special message from DA Leader, Helen Zille.

We receive a lot of emails from South Africans living abroad asking if they can vote in national elections, what they need to do to vote and how they can vote, amongst many other question, so we’ve put together this basic guide to answer all your questions.

Generally we recommend that if you have any specific questions you check out the IEC website (www.elections.org.za), but if you’re still unable to find the answer you’re welcome to email us at contact@da-abroad.org and we’ll do our best to help you out.

The questions we answer on this page include:

1. Can South Africans living overseas vote in the 2014 general elections?

Yes, in March 2009 the South African Constitutional Court ruled that South Africans living abroad who are registered to vote can do so provided they notify SA’s chief electoral officer of their intention to vote overseas. South Africans living abroad can currently only vote at South African embassies, consulates and high commissions.

In order to vote you must have previously registered to vote in South Africa and have BOTH a valid SA ID book and SA passport with you at the time of voting. You also need to have submitted a VEC10 form notifying the IEC of your intention to vote abroad by midnight (UTC +2:00) on the 12 March 2014.

2. When will the elections take place?

South Africans abroad will cast their vote on the 30th April 2014, while those in South Africa will vote on the 7th May 2014. The overseas voting stations will be open from 7am to 9pm on election day.

3. Who can vote?

In order to vote you must:

be a South African citizen;
be at least 18 years old;
have BOTH your green, bar-coded ID book; smartcard ID; or valid Temporary Identity Certificate; and your valid South African passport or temporary passport.
be on the voters roll.
have submitted your VEC10 form to the IEC notifying them of your intention to vote abroad.

4. How do I know if I’m registered to vote?

To find out if you’re on the electoral roll and registered to vote, submit your ID number on this page of the IEC’s website: https://www.elections.org.za/content/For-voters/My-voter-registration-details/

To find out if your VEC10 submittion has been successful, submit your ID number on this page of the IEC’s website:

https://www.elections.org.za/content/For-Voters/VEC-10-application-status/

5. How do I register to vote while living abroad?

To vote in elections in South Africa you must be a registered voter. If you are already registered to vote in South Africa, you don’t have to re-register. You can check your registration status here: https://www.elections.org.za/content/For-voters/My-voter-registration-details/

Unfortunately voter registration is now closed for the 2014 South African General Election. If you weren’t able to register to vote, please do try to do so before the next election.

6. What if I registered abroad, but am going to be back in SA to vote?

If you have registered to vote abroad, but find that you will be back in SA on election day you can still vote on the 7th May 2014. You don’t need to notify the IEC in advance and you can vote at any voting station in SA. On the day of voting you will be required to fill in a 24A form which indicates that you are voting ‘out of province’ and will be given a national ballot only. You won’t be able to vote on the provincial ballot. This is because overseas voters do not fall under any one of the nine provinces and are considered to be the ‘international segment’ of the national vote. If, in the future, you would want to vote on the provincial ballot, you would need to re-register in South Africa.

7. Where will I vote?

South Africans living abroad can currently only vote at South African embassies, consulates and high commissions, between 7am to 9pm on the 30th April 2014. You can view a list of the 2014 overseas voting stations here.

8. How does the IEC know that I’m going to vote abroad?

In order to vote abroad, you needed to have notified the IEC of your intention to vote abroad and at which embassy, high commission or consulate you will vote, by submitting a VEC10 form via the IEC’s website before midnight (UTC +2:00) on 12th March 2014. If you did not submit your VEC10 form you will not be able to vote abroad.

9. Can I vote with my passport?

In order to vote you must have BOTH a valid green, bar-coded South African ID book, ID smartcard or Temporary Identity Certificate (TIC) AND your valid South African passport

If you have any further questions or require information please email contact@da-abroad.org It is the democratic right and duty of each South African citizen to vote – please ensure that you register and vote in the next election to keep our democracy alive.