IEC preparations for 2026 polls ‘in full swing’
The Electoral Commission says preparations for the 2026 local government polls are in full swing.
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says they have already set targets, adding plans will move into practical work once the Municipal Demarcation Board declares the final wards.
" We've also done a lot of work to isolate voting stations where we had difficulties and long queues.
"We are looking at what needs to be done to improve voting station efficiency in relation to densely populated voting stations. We working on about 300 or so where we experienced a big queues on election day.
READ: No e-voting for 2026 elections - IEC
Mamabolo says the MDB will soon finalise the process of determining municipal and ward boundaries.
" The MDB will hand over final wall boundaries to the commission at the end of October this year. There will, however, be a residual of 18 municipalities that will be handed over at a later stage. The latter case relates to municipalities that were subject to requests for a review of external boundaries.”
He adds that on the ground, wards are already preparing for the next elections, with 39 by-elections held across the country since April.
" The highest number of vacancies arose in Gauteng municipalities with eight ward vacancies followed by the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, both with seven ward vacancies. KwaZulu-Natal had six ward vacancies. The overall average voter turnout for this by-election stands at 41.58%."
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