With less than an hour to go in the Local Government Elections, the IEC said vote counting will start after 21:00 and the first results are expected to reach the National Results Operation in Tshwane after midnight.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) provided an update on the progress made in the 2021 Local Government Elections an hour before the polls close on Monday, 1 November.
IEC UPDATES SA ON ELECTION PROGRESS
UPDATE: As of 23:00 on Monday, the results from the Mvomvo Lodge, Umzimvubu voting station in the Eastern Cape was the first to be received by the IEC ROC.
The ANC received 173 votes at the said voting station, followed by the FF Plus with 23, EFF (20), DA (19), UDM (10), ATM (5) and SRWP (2).
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The IEC said eight million South Africans had cast their ballots by 17:00 on Election Day at a media briefing at 20:00 at the National Results Operation (ROC) in Tshwane, Gauteng.
At the first briefing, the Commission said 3.5 million voters had cast their ballots by 12:30. As things stand, this is set to be the worst voter turnout seen in the country’s democracy – 26.2 million citizens are registered to vote in this election.
“We encourage eligible voters who have not voted to use the remaining hours to go out and vote,” said the IEC.
“Voting will continue throughout until 21h00 tonight when voting stations close. Voters who are at the voting station or in a queue at 21h00 will be allowed to vote.”
The IEC said voting will only begin after the polls have closed and the first results are expected to be displayed on the screens at the ROC around midnight.
The Commission follows an eight-step process to count the votes and declare the results of the election.
‘THERE SHOULD BE NO SHORTAGE’
The Commission said that it has noted reports about some voters who cannot find their names on the voters roll or approved MEC7 list. “The Commission is attending and responding to complaints as they are raised. The MEC7 list has been updated and we continue to communicate with affected voters.”
It has also conducted an investigation into the reported shortage of ballot papers in several voting districts. The IEC addressed the issue at the earlier briefing when it said that more than enough ballot papers were procured and added that any shortages were likely related to distribution issues.
“As pointed out earlier, there should be no shortage because the Commission procured 100% of the ballots needed.
“We are happy to report that the shortages from distribution issues have been resolved and the Commission continues to monitor voting station performance in this regard.”