Calling all young people!! Vote & be heard!

Statistics show that South Africa’s voter’s roll currently has approximately 25 million voters, and the commission is encouraged all eligible voters to get registered in March and those who are already on the voter’s roll to update their details, ahead of the local government elections.

Out of the 25 million voters on the voter’s roll, youth only make up to less than ten million, yet, according to Statistics  South Africa, those who are below the age of 35 years constitute about 66 percent of the total population of 54 million.

IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini spoke to SA News on the commission’s plans to encourage young people to participate in elections.

“Our campaign was to primarily focus on the youth. We just called on people to update their details, but we tried very hard to push the drive for youth to register back in March,” says Mashinini.

To be able to vote, you must register as a voter. Once you've registered, your details appear on the voters' roll. The voters' roll helps the commission to plan an election and identify fraud as it shows how many voters to expect in each voting district.

Although youth are under-represented in the voter’s roll, Mashinini says the figures indicate that there has been an increase in the number of citizens captured on the voter‘s roll over the years.

“When we started in 1998, we had about 18.5 million people, but today we are sitting at about 25 million. It is a steady growth, however we are still saying the young people remain under-represented compared to other age groups. Hence our focus in this round of registration is to encourage youth people,” says Mashinini.

He says it is everybody’s patriotic responsibility to ensure that they are part of democracy, and that young people are important as they are part of the country’s citizens.

“The importance of getting young people to vote is that their participation will ensure that their will is represented in the political system of the country.

“The Importance of Local Government Elections is that, that is where most of the services that affect you and me on a daily basis are provided. It is the heartbeat of any economy that is provided by the cities. It is where the quality of life is being determined. That is why it is important for young people - and every citizen should exercise their right to vote,” says Mashinini.

Exercise your right to vote tomorrow, 3 August 2016 and be heard. Be the change you want to see and make a difference by voting. We call on the youth to help us make the difference we all are longing for.