SOUTH AFRICA.- The IEC successfully concluded the two-day Special Voting yesterday.

The process provided approximately 2.6 million approved voters who would otherwise be unable to vote on Election Day with an opportunity to cast their votes in advance.

The IEC said that Election Staff successfully facilitated special voting at voting stations and through home visits.

The Commission said that it is pleased to report that at the time of closing; 1 425 942 voters had recorded as having voted between 2 and 3 November 2026. Out of these, 974 852 voters voted at voting stations, and 451090 voted through home visits.

A provincial breakdown is as follows:

Gauteng       264 898

KZN             208 846

EC                207 258

LIMPOPO     180 627

MP               149 714

WC               148 493

NW               126 187

FS                75 946

NC               63 973     

   The voting station results will be tallied together with the rest of the results and announced a part of the overall election results per voting station.

In terms of the law, the Special votes have been securely stored and will be counted together with the 4 November 2026 Election Day ballots after closing of voting stations. Meaning, the voting station results will be tallied together with the rest of the results and announced a part of the overall election results per voting station.

The Electoral Commission further said that it is fully prepared for Election Day, today, with operational arrangements in place across all nine provinces to facilitate a smooth and efficient voting process.

A total of 188 000 IEC officials has been deployed across the country’s voting stations.

“They are fully equipped and ready to assist voters and ensure that the voting process is conducted efficiently and in accordance with the electoral procedures. All ballot papers and essential election materials have already been secured and distributed to voting stations, with the necessary logistical, security and operational arrangements in place to support the successful conduct of the elections,” the IEC said.

Voting stations opened at 07:00 and close at 21h00.