IEC assures political parties that results system is reliable

The Electoral Commission (IEC) has affirmed to political parties that their results system will be dependable and secure. Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo addressed the media about preparations for the upcoming Local Government Elections on November 4th. This included the recently concluded special voting application procedure and logistical arrangements.

The IEC's Results System faced scrutiny following a technical issue during the 2024 National and Provincial elections, when the National Results Operations Centre's board went blank for two hours on May 31st, 2024. The MK Party accused the Commission of vote manipulation, but an Electoral Court dismissed the claim last month. Mamabolo revealed that five political parties—the ANC, DA, EFF, ACDP, and Freedom Front Plus—received an invitation to conduct an independent audit of the system between October 5th and 12th.

"Parties were given an opportunity to scrutinize the system to ensure its functionality and security resilience," he stated. He thanked the parties for taking this chance and emphasized that they should refrain from raising concerns about the system's reliability after the election, as they had the chance before it to validate its operational and security features.