Some election objections remain unresolved as IEC declares elected councillors
The IEC received more than 1 700 objections related to the 2026 elections, with only 252 of 433 qualifying applications finalised.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) disclosed that it has been unable to process all the objections filed regarding the recent 2026 local government elections. Speaking at a briefing, IEC chair Mosotho Moepya revealed an increase in the number of objections compared to the 2021 elections. The main reasons for objections included counting irregularities, mistakes in result recording, incorrect inclusion of special votes, and an alleged high number of spoiled ballots.
Out of 1,708 received objections, 433 met the criteria outlined in section 65 of the Local Government: Municipal Election Act. Of these, 252 were finalized, with three upheld and 249 rejected, including 12 applications for recounts. The remaining cases will be further analyzed and contribute to the commission's post-election review to improve future poll procedures.
Parties were given until Wednesday to clarify their lists of councillors, with failure to do so resulting in the deletion of the unclarified candidate's name from the ward list.
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