The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has reported progress in capturing and verifying results following Wednesday’s local government elections, with 18 local municipalities having completed the process by 9 am on Thursday.
The commission said 34.8% of the expected election results slips had been captured, while 25.4% had already undergone independent auditing as the counting and verification process continued across the country.
Voting stations closed at 9 pm on Wednesday, November 4, with the IEC confirming that voters who were still in queues at closing time were allowed to cast their ballots.
Counting, tallying and verification continued throughout the night in the presence of political party agents, independent candidate representatives and accredited observers.
In its media briefing on Thursday morning, November 5, the commission said it was satisfied with the progress made in managing the results following the conclusion of voting.
The IEC is expecting 66,073 results slips from local municipalities, metropolitan municipalities and district council elections across the country’s 23,696 voting stations.
By 9 am on Thursday, 23,444 results slips, representing 35.5% of the expected total, had been scanned into the results system.
Of these, 22,983, or 34.8%, had been captured, while 16,791, representing 25.4% of the expected results slips, had undergone independent auditing.
The commission said results from 18 local municipalities, representing 7%, had been finalised by the time of the briefing.
This represented an improvement compared with the 2021 local government elections, when only seven municipalities had completed the process at the same time.
The IEC attributed the improved pace to its results management processes, despite longer ballot papers, a higher number of contestants and increased voter participation.
Explaining the process, the commission emphasised that ballot counting takes place at the voting station where the votes were cast.
This ensures that every ballot paper is accounted for and the results are recorded at the correct voting station.
Once counting is completed, the results slip is produced in duplicate in the presence of political party agents, independent candidate agents and observers.
Agents are allowed to record and photograph the results slips, while the IEC also keeps images to assist contestants who may need to retrieve the information.
The results slips are then transported in tamper-evident envelopes to the commission’s local capturing sites.
At these centres, the documents undergo several quality assurance processes, including double-blind capturing, scanning into the results system and auditing by independent auditors.
The commission said the entire population of results was subjected to independent auditing rather than relying on a sample.
An automated system also checks for possible anomalies, including unusually high voter turnout and discrepancies in the number of votes received by a political party at the same voting station.
These measures are intended to identify possible errors and irregularities before results are finalised.
The IEC urged political parties, independent candidates and their supporters to remain patient while the counting and capturing processes continued.
It also warned political players against circulating unverified information or disinformation about election results, saying misleading claims could create unnecessary tensions, incite violence and potentially result in damage to property or injuries.
The appeal comes after several incidents of violence and criminal activity were reported during the special voting period and on election day.
In Limpopo, a 35-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of a 31-year-old man who was stabbed at a park opposite Flora Park Comprehensive School in Polokwane on Thursday morning.
In Mpumalanga, police were investigating the fatal shooting of a 57-year-old man outside a voting station in Boikhutso, Bushbuckridge, in the early hours of Thursday.
Meanwhile, the IEC encouraged voters, political contestants and the media to rely on its official communication platforms for accurate results updates.
Results are available through the commission’s website, mobile application and WhatsApp channel on 0600 88 0000.
The commission thanked millions of South Africans who participated in Wednesday’s elections, saying their involvement demonstrated the importance of exercising their democratic right to vote.
