What you need to know about making your mark

ELECTION NEWS - With the 2019 national and provincial elections only two days away, the time has come to ensure your vote counts.

The first step into making your mark is finding your voting station. To ensure you get to the right station you can either visit the IEC website www.elections.org.za or send a SMS with your name and ID number to 32810.

Most voting stations are located in community buildings like local schools, churches or community centres. Where buildings are not available, voting stations are set up in tents in parks or other open land. In some sparsely-populated rural areas the IEC uses specially adapted vehicles as mobile voting stations. Every voting station has large clear signs outside marking it as a voting station.

Before you head out to the voting station, make sure that you have your green barcoded ID, smart-card ID or temporary ID certificate with you.

At the entrance of the voting station there will be an election official who will serve as a door controller. He or she will check that you have a valid identification document, will scan it, and then present you with a slip that confirms that you are a registered voter. The door controller will also tell you when it is your turn to enter the station and will advise where to go once inside.

Once inside you will need to proceed to the voters' roll table where election officials will take your ID document and check for your name and identity number on the segment of the national common voters' roll for that voting district. Your name will then be crossed off. This is a manual mechanism to ensure that voters only make their mark once. An election official will then ink your left thumb nail. This is a special ink that will not wash off your nail for several days.

An election official will then hand you your ballot papers, which they will tear off a pad. Voters need to check that the ballot papers are stamped on the back. Each voter will receive two – one for the national and one for the provincial election.

If you have a green barcoded ID book, it will be stamped by an election official to show that you have participated in the election.

Following this process you will then be directed to an empty voting booth. There you will mark the ballot with an X in the box next to the political party of your choice. To avoid a spoilt ballot, ensure that you make only one mark on each paper and that your mark is clear. If you make a mistake call an election official and they will provide you with a new ballot paper. When you are finished, fold your ballot papers in half and leave the voting booth.

The IEC warned that photographs of marked ballot papers are not allowed.

An election official stationed at the ballot box will check that there is a stamp at the back of each of your ballots. The completed ballot paper can then be dropped through the slot on the top of the ballot box before you leave the voting station.

The voting process on Election Day, 2019. Photo: IEC