WATCH: IEC declares 2026 local elections free and fair despite ballot disputes
The IEC has declared the 2026 Local Government Elections free and fair.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declared the 2026 Local Government Elections as free and fair, despite encountering operational issues and disruptions. Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo defended the IEC's management of the elections, highlighting the extensive planning, technological advancements, and deployment of thousands of election officials across the nation.
On Sunday evening, at the IEC Results Operations Centre in Gauteng, Mamabolo announced that 15.2 million South Africans participated in the elections, with 188,000 electoral staff stationed at 23,696 voting stations nationwide. The commission enhanced its election management systems by introducing a Virtual Results Operations Centre, enabling political parties and candidates to access election applications and results remotely through a platform accessed by 1,149 users, including 85 political parties and 328 individual party officials.
The system recorded 54,908 information requests. Mamabolo acknowledged that while the elections were a success in affirming voter rights, the commission faced challenges, including a Constitutional Court order on October 15 that altered candidate lists, resulting in about 28 million ballot papers being replaced. This order affected 181 ANC candidates in six municipalities and extended similar dispensations to 32 other political parties.
The IEC printed over 100 million ballot papers and deployed around 56,000 voter management devices to support voting stations. The commission aims to assess its performance, document lessons, and identify areas for improvement ahead of future elections.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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