South Africa: electoral turnout 2024

In 2024, the electoral turnout in the national and provincial elections in South Africa was around 59 percent of those who re gistered to vote. Since 2009, the percentage of people showing up to cast their vote at elections in the country has been gradually declining.

Electoral turnout in the national and provincial elections in South Africa from 2014 to 2024

Characteristic	Share of voters
2004	76.73%
2009	77.3%
2014	73.48%
2019	66.05%
2024	58.64%

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Release date

June 2024

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Region

Africa, South Africa

Survey time period

2004 to 2023

Supplementary notes

The release date is the date of access.

Voter turnout is the percentage of persons registered voters who presented themselves to vote in the national and provincial elections.

Elections occur in South Africa once every five years, with provincial and national elections taking place at the same time, and local/municipal elections taking place two years later. South Africa uses the proportional representation electoral system for provincial and national elections, and a combination of the proportional representation and ward system for local/municipal elections. This means that South Africans vote for their chosen party in the provincial and national elections and vote for their chosen ward candidate in the local/municipal elections.

South African citizens from the age of 18 are eligible to vote. South Africans who live outside of South Africa are also allowed to vote, but only in the national elections. To vote in the provincial or local/municipal elections, South Africans have to be resident in South Africa and be within the province and municipality they have registered in. If they live in a different province or municipality to the one they originally registered in, they will have to re-register before voting day.

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