2.6 million special votes approved for November local elections, a 131% jump on 2021
The IEC says it is ready for the surge, with home visits planned for about 670,000 voters and 1.9 million set to vote at stations on 2 and 3 November.
More than 2.6 million special votes have been approved for the November local government elections, the Electoral Commission of South Africa says, a 131% increase on the 2021 municipal elections.
As eNCA reported on 15 October, Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission is ready to manage the increased demand.
With fewer than 20 days left before the elections, teams are being deployed to visit about 670,000 voters at their homes. Roughly 1.9 million voters will cast special ballots at voting stations on 2 and 3 November, ahead of election day on 4 November.
Special votes exist for voters who cannot get to a station on election day. That includes elderly people, voters with disabilities, and people who will not be in their voting district on 4 November. The commission has widened access to the special vote in recent cycles, and Mamabolo pointed to that ease of access as the main reason for the growth.
“It does show that the participation envelope is increasing and the commission is making it easier for people to cast their ballots,” he said.
Asked about the operational load, Mamabolo said the extra volume should not disrupt the process. “It shouldn’t have a disruptive effect,” he said.
For a South African reader, the number is the thing to watch. A 131% rise in approved special votes is not only a sign of demand. It is a logistics problem in three parts: the home visits, the staffing at stations on 2 and 3 November, and the counting that follows.
The commission has previously struggled to recruit electoral officers. Mamabolo said recruitment in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal was almost complete, and that filling the remaining vacancies was progressing. The IEC is due to hold its final readiness meeting next week.
The commission is also waiting on the Constitutional Court, which is considering the ANC’s bid to have its candidates included on the ballot. That dispute hangs over the run-up to the vote, and a ruling is still outstanding.
Special votes are cast before election day and counted separately, so the 2.6 million figure will be one of the first hard numbers to emerge from this election. Voters who qualify for a special vote have until the commission’s published deadline to apply, and those who have been approved will be visited at home or will attend a station on the designated days.
