Electoral Commission to hold media briefing ahead of special votes 

The Electoral Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, will this evening brief the media on the Commission’s state of readiness ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections special votes set to take place on 2 and 3 November.

Sunday’s briefing will get underway at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) at Gallagher Convention Centre at 6pm.

Last month the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said it had approved a record 2 655 067 special vote applications ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections, representing a 131% increase compared with the 1 147 759 applications approved for the 2021 elections.

The special vote application period opened on 21 September and closed at 17h00 on 12 October 2026.

The approved applications fall into two categories: home visits for voters unable to travel to their voting stations due to physical infirmity or disability, and voting station-based special votes for voters who can physically reach their voting stations but cannot vote on Election Day.

The Commission had approved 678 525 home visit applications, an increase of 171 118, or 33.7%, compared with the 507 407 approved in 2021.

“Most applications, totalling 2 426 066, were submitted through online platforms, while 171 214 manually submitted applications had been captured at IEC offices. The capturing process is being finalised, with completion targeted for 16 October 2026,” Mamabolo said at a media briefing at the time.

Special voting will take place ahead of Election Day on Wednesday, 4 November.

NATJOINTS
Meanwhile, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) co-chairs, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the State Security Agency (SSA), will also this evening brief the media on the Security Cluster’s operational readiness ahead of the elections.

At a briefing on Friday, the SAPS said it is operationally ready to ensure safe elections.
READ | SAPS ready to ensure safe elections

“The South African Police Service wishes to assure South Africans that we are operationally ready to secure these elections. We have been planning for these elections for several months,” National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola said. -SAnews.gov.za 

 

Source: Original report at SAnews.gov.za.