IEC secures 23,696 voting stations for 4 November local elections

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has secured 23,696 voting stations ahead of the 4 November local government elections, the commission said as it ramps up preparations for polling day.

Breakdown of stations and lease caveat

The IEC said the total of 23,696 voting stations includes 22,668 permanent, 995 temporary and 33 mobile voting stations. The commission cautioned that the figure could still change slightly as outstanding lease agreements for some sites are finalised.

Recruitment and training of election staff

The IEC is recruiting officials to staff the stations. It said 23,696 presiding officers and 29,964 deputy presiding officers are being recruited, with more than half recruited to date and training currently under way.

Election administration and system testing

On the commission’s broader preparations, IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission remained committed to administering the elections in a lawful and trustworthy manner. The IEC was also working on its election results system, engaging external independent auditors to validate key controls, processes and system functionality. An independent quality assurance testing process is scheduled to run for three weeks, and political parties will have access to the results system from 5 to 12 October to test it using their preferred experts.

“the commission remained committed to ensuring that the elections were administered in a manner that was \u201ccredible, transparent, inclusive and compliant with the law\u201d

How voters can confirm their voting station

The IEC has provided multiple channels for voters to confirm where they should vote:

• SMS an ID number to 32810 to receive voting station details and a voters’ roll sequence number;
• Call the IEC Contact Centre on 0800 11 8000 and confirm details with an agent in a preferred language;
• WhatsApp “Hi” to 0600 88 0000 and use the “Am I registered” menu to confirm voting station and receive the voters’ roll sequence number.

Next steps

The IEC said the final list of voting stations will enable it to continue preparations for polling day, while the number of stations could be adjusted slightly as outstanding lease agreements are concluded.