IEC bans marches nationwide on Election Day as Moepya sets the voting station rules
Anyone still in the queue at 9pm will be allowed to vote, the Commission says, but campaigning at voting station boundaries and marches across the Republic are not allowed.
The Electoral Commission has drawn its line for Election Day. Marches are banned across the Republic, campaigning is not allowed at voting station boundaries, and anyone still standing in a queue after 9pm will still be allowed to vote.
Commission chairperson Mosotho Moepya set out the rules at a media briefing on Wednesday, in a notice the Commission posted on its official X account.
The queue rule is the one most voters will want to remember. Arriving before the station closes is not the test. Being in the queue when the clock runs past 9pm is, and the Commission says those voters will still cast their ballot.
The other two rules cut the other way, against activity around the stations. No campaigning is permitted at voting station boundaries, and marches are strictly prohibited across the Republic for the day.
The Commission published the briefing alongside photographs from the briefing. It did not, in the notice, set out how the restrictions will be enforced or what penalties attach to a breach.
For voters, the practical instruction is narrow and clear: join the queue, stay in it, and the vote is counted even after 9pm.
