South Africa’s most-used social network, Facebook, will this weekend remind South African users to register to vote — the last chance they’ll have to do so before the local government elections on 3 August.
It’s the first-ever voter registration campaign that Facebook has run in Africa, the company said. The campaign is being run in partnership with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
People over the age of 18 who log on to Facebook after noon on Saturday will see a message at the top of their news feed reminding them to register to vote.
By clicking a link in the message, they will be directed to the IEC website, which will provide information about how to register.
“You’ll also be able to share with your friends that you’ve registered,” Facebook said in a statement.
“Past studies have found that voters who see more of their Facebook friends talking about voting are more likely to vote themselves,” the company said.
Facebook estimates that more than 13m people in South Africa use its platform.
Facebook head of public policy for Africa Ebele Okobi said she hopes the initiative will lead to higher turnout at the polls.
The IEC’s senior manager for communications, Marco Granelli, said: “Our records show that about 80% of eligible voters who are not yet registered are under 30 years old. Facebook is a great way for us to be able to get a message directly to young people who may otherwise be hard to reach and to engage with young people around the importance of voting.” — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media