IEC concludes special voting as 1.4-million South Africans cast ballots ahead of election day - TimesLIVE

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has concluded its two-day special voting process with more than 1.4-million voters having cast their ballots ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

The special voting process, which took place on November 2 and 3, provided an opportunity for approved voters who would otherwise be unable to visit voting stations on election day to cast their ballots in advance.

IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the commission had successfully concluded the process, which included voting at designated stations and home visits.

“An hour ago, the Electoral Commission successfully concluded the two-day special voting process, providing approximately 2.6-million approved voters who otherwise would have been unable to vote on voting day an opportunity to cast their vote in advance. Election staff successfully facilitated special voting at voting stations and through home visits,” he said.

Moepya said preliminary figures showed that 1,425,942 voters had recorded their special votes across the two days.

Of these, 974,852 voted at voting stations while 451,090 cast their ballots through home visits.

Gauteng recorded the highest number of special votes at 264,898, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 208,846 and the Eastern Cape with 207,258.

Moepya said the figures were preliminary and would be finalised later on Tuesday evening.

He said the special votes had been securely stored and would be counted alongside the ballots cast on election day.

“In terms of the law, the special votes have been securely stored and will be counted together with the 4 November 2026 election day ballots after the closing of voting stations and the beginning of counting at each of the voting stations that these special votes relate to. This means that the voting station results will be tallied together with the rest of the results and announced as part of the overall election results per voting station,” he said.

With special voting now concluded, the commission said it was ready to oversee Wednesday’s elections across the country.

Moepya welcomed the participation of voters during the two-day special voting period and said operational arrangements were in place across all nine provinces.

“The electoral commission is encouraged by the enthusiasm of South Africans who showed up on two days of special voting with us on the 2nd of November and on Tuesday, the 3rd of November. In respect of election day readiness, the commission is fully prepared for election day, with operational arrangements in place across all nine provinces to facilitate a smooth and efficient voting process,” he said.

The 2026 local government elections have attracted an unprecedented 29.2-million registered voters who will cast their ballots across 23,696 voting stations nationwide.

A total of 188,000 election officials have been deployed across the country.

Moepya said the officials had been trained and equipped to assist voters and ensure that voting was conducted efficiently and in accordance with electoral procedures.

He also said that all ballot papers and essential election materials had been secured and distributed to voting stations, with logistical, security and operational arrangements in place to support peaceful elections.

Voters have been reminded that voting stations will open at 7am and close at 9pm on Wednesday, November 4.

The commission has urged registered voters to turn out and exercise their democratic right as the country elects its municipal representatives.