Independent Electoral Commission gives update readiness for 2026 Local Government Elections

The Commission ramps up readiness, transparency and capacity ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections

As the country enters the last 21 day stretch to 4 November 2026 voting day, the Electoral Commission provides update on key readiness areas and Election Timetable activities.

Special vote applications
The special vote applications opened on 21 September and closed at 17h00 on 12 October 2026. A record 2 655 067 special vote applications have been approved, a 131% increase from the 1 147 759 special votes approved for a comparable election in 2021.

The special votes are in two categories:

1. Home visits for voters who are unable to travel to their voting stations due to physical infirmity or disability;

The commission approved 678 525 applications in this category, compared to 507 407 in 2021 representing an increase of 171,118 applications (33.7%).
Most approved home visit special votes are in KwaZulu-Natal, with 143 714.

2. Voting station-based special votes for voters who can physically present at their voting stations but are unable to do so on Election Day.

The Commission approved 1 976 542 applications in this category compared to 602 850 in 2021 representing an increase of 1,373,692 applications (227.9%)
Most approved voting station based special votes are in Gauteng 391 589. Most applications, 2 426 066 came through online platforms.

So far, 171 214 manually submitted applications have been captured across the IEC Offices. Capturing of the manually submitted special vote applications is being finalised with the targeted date of completion of 16 October 2026.

Based on figures captured thus far, Gauteng has recorded the highest number of approved special votes at 480 721, followed by the Eastern Cape with 401 971. KwaZuluNatal recorded 348 971 applications, Limpopo 341 623, while Mpumalanga received 292 775 and the Western Cape 291 866. The remaining applications were recorded in North West 235 733, Free State 132 088 and Northern Cape 129 319.

Analysis of approved special votes reveals distinct age and gender patterns. Women account for a larger share of applications in both categories, comprising 74% of Home Visit applications and 64% of Voting Station Visit applications. Age data for Home Visits shows that voters aged 60 years and older account for 79.6% of all Home Visit applications, with the 70-79 age cohort representing the largest segment. The data therefore indicates that Home Visits are predominantly utilised by older voters, particularly older female voters. The Voting Station Visits display a relatively younger and more gender-balanced profile.

Gauteng province has the highest number for special votes for both genders (females 305 586), and (males 172 200), followed by the Eastern Cape, with 267 539 female and 137 550 male applicants.

Special voting will be conducted on 2 and 3 November 2026.

Election Results System Audit

Following the external and independent audit of the Result System and implementation of remedial measures, the Commission had from 05 to 12 October given contestants access to the Election Results System to test its integrity, functionality, security, and reliability. The following parties designated their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) experts to review the Results System.

Democratic Alliance
African National Congress
African Christian Democratic Party
Economic Freedom Fighters
Vryheidsfront Plus

Ballot Paper Production

Printing of ballots to be used for the elections is underway with over 66% of the 79 million ballots already printed. This follows the ballot paper draw held on 23 September 2026 to determine the order of parties and contestants on ballot papers, and certification of candidates on 25 September 2026. The production is expected to conclude by Sunday 18 October 2026.

Logistics and Infrastructure

The Commission has distributed the bulk of non-security election materials to local municipalities in readiness for the special voting on 2 and 3 November and Election Day on 4 November.

All the 23 696 voting stations have been secured and leases entered into with landlords for the use of 22 659 permanent voting stations. Arrangements are being finalised to establish temporary infrastructure at 1 005 temporary stations, and to support 33 mobile voting stations.

The Commission has finalised the locations of the National and Provincial Results Operation Centres (ROCs). The National ROC is located at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. It will be launched on 28 October 2026.

The Provincial ROCS will be at the following venues.

Eastern Cape: East London International Convention Centre
Free State: 24 Ben Jones Street, Hamilton, Bloemfontein
Gauteng: Alberton Civic Centre, Johannesburg
KwaZulu-Natal: Durban International Convention Centre
Limpopo: Protea Hotel Polokwane Ranch Resort
Mpumalanga: ANEW Hotel Sports and Conferencing, White River
Northern Cape: The Light House, 40 Boshoff Road, Ernestville, Kimberley
North West: 50 First Street, Industrial Site, Mahikeng
Western Cape: Century City Convention Centre, Cape Town

Voting Staff Recruitment

The recruitment of around 188 500 electoral officials, especially the Presiding Officers (POs) and Deputy Presiding Officers (DPOs), is underway. To date, 96% of Presiding Officers, 93% of Deputy Presiding Officers, 94% of Area Managers (AMs) and 79% of Electoral Officers have been recruited. All names of POs, DPOs and AMs shared with MPLCs to facilitate objections in line with the NPLC-consulted Recruitment Criteria.

Training of the electoral staff is also underway to ensure they are adequately prepared to efficiently perform their duties.

Outreach Voting Campaign

Outreach interventions have transitioned to voter education where the Commission has produced several information products to familiarise voters with the voting day processes. These include:

Television Campaign (TVC): focusing on mobilising registered voters to turn out on voting day and reminds them of the documentation required and voting process. The TVC
Television Reality documentary: entitled “let your voice be heard” the reality series follows the stories of citizens alongside constitutional experts to explore what makes democracy works and emphasises the importance of active citizenship.
Animation series traversing important elections topics such as democracy, special votes, dos and don’ts in an election, voting and counting processes and allocation of seats. The animations are already flighting on multimedia platforms, including community media.
Information Integrity: In its resolve to enhance information integrity, the Commission has entered a multi-stakeholder partnership with leading civil society organisations and online platforms. As part of this effort, the Commission will sign a framework of cooperation with online platforms, Meta Inc., Google, TikTok, and Microsoft on 20 October 2026.

This framework is a sequel to another agreement signed with these platforms during the 2024 National and Provincial Elections. It helps with concrete mitigation interventions to thwart the dissemination of disinformation during the election period.

Observer Accreditation

The Commission has accredited 109 domestic observer organisations. The observers strengthen the transparency, accountability and credibility of the electoral process. The accredited observer organisations have been briefed on 30 September 2026 to enable them to undertake independent and informed observation across all provinces.

Additionally, as part of its ongoing stakeholder engagement, the Commission briefed the Diplomatic Corps on 8 October 2026. The briefing provided updates on key electoral milestones, election processes and the Commission’s state of readiness to deliver the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Call to Action

In the 2026 Local Government Elections, voters may only vote at the voting station where they are registered. The Electoral Commission urges all voters to check their voting station details before Election Day. Voters can do so by sending their ID number via WhatsApp to 0600 88 0000 or by SMS to 32810 at a cost of R1 per SMS. Voters will receive the name of their registered voting station and their voters’ roll sequence number. Providing this sequence number to election officials on Election Day will help them locate voters on the voters’ roll more quickly.

Get Up. Show Up. Vote on 4 November 2026!

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Kate Bapela
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