Registration campaign uses murals to reach voters

Petronella Mphahlele looks at why the IEC uses wall murals for voter registration campaigns in South Africa (Image source: @ IEC https://www.facebook.com/IECSouthAfrica/posts IEC]])

The IEC has adopted wall murals as a communication tool for voter registration campaigns. While digital platforms, radio, and television remain important, murals offer a grounded, accessible way to connect with citizens across both urban and rural communities.

The IEC’s use of murals highlights a broader shift in communication strategy. It shows how public art and community engagement can be combined to deliver impactful messaging that resonates beyond traditional advertising formats.

For brands and organisations, this approach demonstrates the value of meeting audiences in shared spaces, using creativity and purpose to drive meaningful engagement.

Wall murals are more than a creative expression. For the IEC, they are a strategic tool that combines visibility, accessibility, and community connection to promote voter registration and participation. In a country as diverse as South Africa, effective communication requires more than reach. It requires relevance.

By turning public spaces into platforms for civic education, the IEC has shown how communication can become both visible and meaningful, helping to strengthen the foundations of democracy.

There are several reasons for this.

A community-focused communication strategy

Murals serve this purpose by placing voter education messages directly into public environments. Painted along busy roads, transport routes, and neighbourhood walls, they become part of daily life, ensuring consistent exposure without reliance on digital access.

Visibility that cuts through the noise

In a crowded media environment, capturing attention is increasingly difficult. Wall murals offer large scale, visually striking messaging that is difficult to ignore. Unlike flyers or posters that may be removed or overlooked, murals are permanent and continuously visible. This repeated exposure supports broader voter education initiatives that aim to increase awareness and encourage electoral participation, particularly among underrepresented groups.

Simplifying voter education through visual storytelling

For many South Africans, especially first-time voters, the electoral process can feel complex or intimidating. Murals provide a way to simplify information using visual language, symbols, and short, impactful messages. By reducing reliance on lengthy text, murals make voter education more accessible across different literacy levels and language backgrounds. This aligns with the IEC’s responsibility to provide clear, inclusive information about voting processes.

Driving local connection and participation

Murals often involve collaboration with local artists and community groups, giving campaigns a sense of authenticity and relevance. Rather than appearing as top-down messaging, they reflect the identity and voice of the communities they serve.

Public art initiatives linked to voter education have shown that they can encourage dialogue, spark interest, and build a sense of civic responsibility, ultimately strengthening democratic participation.

Bridging the digital divide

Despite growth in digital media, many South Africans still face barriers to reliable internet access. Murals provide an inclusive, offline communication channel that ensures important messages reach everyone. This is particularly important for engaging marginalised communities and addressing challenges such as voter apathy and low turnout, which voter education campaigns are designed to tackle.