Record 2.65 million South Africans approved for special votes, and 79.6% of home visits are voters over 60

The Electoral Commission of South Africa has approved 2 655 067 special vote applications for the 2026 Local Government Elections, a 131% increase on the 1 147 759 applications approved for the 2021 polls.

The application window ran from 21 September and closed at 17h00 on 12 October 2026. Approved applications fall into two groups: home visits for voters who cannot travel to their voting station because of physical infirmity or disability, and voting station based special votes for voters who can reach a station but cannot vote on Election Day.

Of the total, 678 525 are home visit applications, up 171 118, or 33.7%, on the 507 407 approved in 2021. Chief Electoral Commissioner Sy Mamabolo, addressing media in Pretoria on Wednesday, said KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of approved home visit applications at 143 714.

The age and gender data in the Commission’s analysis is the sharpest detail in the release. Women account for 74% of home visit applications and 64% of voting station visit applications. Voters aged 60 and older account for 79.6% of all home visit applications, with the 70 to 79 cohort the largest single segment.

“The data, therefore, indicates that home visits are predominantly utilised by older voters, particularly older female voters,” Mamabolo said. Voting station visits, by contrast, show a younger and more gender balanced profile.

Gauteng recorded the highest number of approved special votes at 480 721, followed by the Eastern Cape with 401 971. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 348 971, Limpopo 341 623, Mpumalanga 292 775 and the Western Cape 291 866. The North West recorded 235 733, the Free State 132 088 and the Northern Cape 129 319.

Gauteng also leads among both women and men, with 305 586 female applicants and 172 200 male applicants. The Eastern Cape follows with 267 539 female and 137 550 male applicants.

Most applications, 2 426 066, came in through online platforms. A further 171 214 manually submitted applications had been captured at IEC offices, and the Commission says that capturing process is being finalised with completion targeted for 16 October 2026.

On the operational side, Mamabolo said ballot paper printing is underway with more than 66% of the 79 million ballots already printed, and production is expected to conclude by Sunday, 18 October 2026. The bulk of non security election materials has been distributed to local municipalities.

All 23 696 voting stations have been secured, with leases concluded for 22 659 permanent stations. The Commission says arrangements are being finalised for temporary infrastructure at 1 005 temporary stations and to support 33 mobile voting stations, and the locations of the National and Provincial Results Operation Centres have been finalised.

As part of its preparations, the Commission gave political party contestants access to the Election Results System from 5 to 12 October, following an external and independent audit and the implementation of remedial measures. The exercise was intended to let contestants test the system’s integrity, functionality, security and reliability.

Special voting takes place on 2 and 3 November 2026, ahead of Election Day on 4 November. The Commission has urged voters to familiarise themselves with the voting process and prepare for the polls.

This report is based on the SAnews (South African Government News Agency) summary of the Commission’s media briefing rather than the Commission’s full record. The source is at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/iec-approves-265-million-special-vote-applications-ahead-local-government-elections