South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has unveiled mobile applications ahead of the country’s general elections scheduled to take place on 7 May.

According to a statement from the IEC, the launch of the apps is aimed at enhancing voter education and information ahead of the elections.

The mobile apps can be downloaded for free on any smartphone or tablet device, and is available from all the major app stores such as Android, BlackBerry, Apple, Windows 8 and Symbian.

One of the apps contains general data as well voter information such as registration status, voting station locations, and special votes notifications. The app also provides election information such as candidate lists, and seat calculations, the statement reveals.

Meanwhile, the IEC has also developed a 3D digital game app dubbed “IXSA”. The gaming app forms part of the IEC’s education campaign for young voters and introduces first-time voters to the voting process. The game is also available for free from Android and Apple app stores and can also be played on Facebook.

“As a measure of transparency and openness, voters will be able to access and follow the 2014 elections results real-time throughout the capturing process through their mobile devices from anywhere and anytime, from the first result to the last,” said IEC chief information office Libisi Maphanga in a statement.

In addition, the electoral commission has also released the APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for its apps to give all interested parties automated real-time access to elections’ data and information using their own apps on any online platform of their choice.