Early voting rockets 228% as IEC prepares for elections

The number of South Africans approved to cast special votes at voting stations has surged by 228% ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections, pushing the total number of approved special voters to a record 2.65 million.

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said 2,655,067 special-vote applications had been approved, representing a 131% increase from the 1,147,759 approved for the 2021 municipal elections.

The biggest increase is among voters who will cast their ballots at their registered voting stations on Monday and Tuesday because they will be unable to vote on election day.

The IEC approved 1,976,542 applications in this category, compared with 602,850 in 2021.

By contrast, applications for home visits increased by 33.7%, from 507,407 to 678,525.

These visits cater for registered voters who cannot reach voting stations because of physical infirmity or disability.

The figures show that the surge in special voting is overwhelmingly driven by voters opting to cast their ballots early at voting stations rather than through home visits.

More than 2.4 million applications were submitted through the IEC’s online platforms, while 171,214 manually submitted applications were captured at IEC offices.

Gauteng recorded the highest number of approved special votes, with 480,721, followed by the Eastern Cape with 401,971 and KwaZulu-Natal with 348,971.

Limpopo recorded 341,623, Mpumalanga 292,775 and the Western Cape 291,866.

The IEC’s demographic breakdown shows that women account for 74% of approved home-visit applications and 64% of voting station-based applications.

Voters aged 60 and older account for 79.6% of approved home visits, with those aged between 70 and 79 making up the largest group.

The commission has deployed 127,000 electoral officials to administer special voting on Monday and Tuesday.

Voting stations will operate from 8am to 5pm.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo urged voters approved for home visits to remain at their registered addresses until officials arrive.

He warned that officials would not return to the same address if they failed to find an approved voter during their first visit.

The special voting process precedes Wednesday’s election, when 29.2 million registered voters will choose their municipal representatives.

The elections will determine control of municipalities responsible for delivering essential services, including water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal.