Queues shrink, 95% of voters back IEC staff as HSRC rates 2026 local elections

South Africans who voted in the 2026 Local Government Elections waited less and rated the officials who served them highly, according to the Human Sciences Research Council’s 2026 Election Satisfaction Survey.

Ninety-five percent of voters expressed satisfaction with the quality of service provided by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, the HSRC found. Ninety-one percent spent no more than 30 minutes queuing before casting their ballots, a marked improvement on the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

Briefing the media at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand, HSRC researcher Dr Ben Roberts said the improvement in queuing times had reversed the increase recorded in 2024, returning to levels seen during the 2021 Local Government Elections.

“Voting was generally convenient. 90% travelled no more than 30 minutes (not shown), and 91% queued no longer than 30 minutes,” Roberts said.

Access held up too. Ninety percent of voters travelled no longer than 30 minutes to reach their voting stations. Eighty-six percent of voters, both those with disabilities and those without, considered voting stations accessible to elderly people and persons with disabilities.

On the conduct of electoral officials, voters gave positive ratings across six indicators: helpfulness, patience, professionalism, friendliness, trustworthiness and impartiality. Helpfulness scored highest, with 79% of voters saying officials demonstrated it to a great extent. Patience and professionalism each received 78%, and 77% rated officials as very friendly. Trustworthiness drew 74%.

Impartiality recorded the lowest rating of the six, with 65% of voters saying officials were impartial to a great extent.

The ballot paper itself gave most voters little trouble. Ninety-three percent said it was easy to identify their preferred political party or candidate, and 94% expressed satisfaction with the ballot papers. Inside the voting station, 58% described the procedures as very easy to understand and 38% as easy.

Information was the weaker spot. Thirteen percent of voters said they had far too little information about voting procedures and a further 13% said they had too little. Eastern Cape voters were the most likely to report insufficient information, Northern Cape voters the least.

Arrangements for special groups drew a more mixed assessment. “Most voters viewed arrangements for vulnerable groups positively, although assessments were less favourable for visually impaired voters, pregnant women and voters with babies (due mainly to uncertainty),” the survey found.

On voter education, 60% of respondents described the IEC’s campaign as very effective and 28% as somewhat effective. Radio and television were the most useful sources of information, each rated very useful by 61% of voters, with social media at 59%.

The HSRC identified intimidation, impartiality, inclusive voting and information gaps as areas requiring targeted attention to further strengthen the electoral process.

The 2026 survey was conducted at 300 voting stations nationally, with fieldworkers interviewing randomly selected voters throughout Election Day. A total of 13 198 interviews were completed across all nine provinces, an 88% realisation rate, with a margin of error of less than 1%.

This report is based on SAnews (South African Government News Agency), which summarised the HSRC’s findings rather than publishing the full survey report. The original is at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/shorter-queues-positive-voter-experiences-mark-2026-elections-hsrc