Pretoria: After meeting with all major political parties contesting the upcoming elections on Wednesday, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has gazetted the election timetable.

The timetable sets the dates and deadlines for various aspects of the upcoming national and provincial elections, including the submission of party candidate lists, objections to candidates, applications for special votes and notifications by overseas voters.

“The election timetable covers the key legal requirements to be met by voters, political parties and the IEC over the 70 days leading up to the 7 May 2014 elections,” the commission said.

According to the timetable, the lists of candidates will be submitted by March 12.

The deadline for objections to candidate lists is 1 April and the opening date for the submission of special votes applications is 7 April.

The parties have unanimously adopted the election timetable, according to the IEC.

The IEC has already reached its target of a registration of 80%, with 24.5 million South Africans eligible to cast their ballots.

SOURCE: South African Official News