SOUTH AFRICA. – As South Africa awaits the Local Government Elections (LGE) results, voting progressed well across the country, notwithstanding a few isolated incidents, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced yesterday.

As voting entered the evening, arrangements were made to ensure the availability of generators and alternative lighting at voting stations in areas that experienced electricity outages, ensuring the counting process proceeds without unnecessary disruption.

At 17:00 yesterday, preliminary figures indicated that 12 million voters had cast their votes.

Gauteng recorded the highest number of voters, three million, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 2.5 million, Western Cape with 1.5 million, Eastern Cape with 1.4 million, Limpopo with 1.1 million, Mpumalanga with 854 901, North West with 702 1337, Free State with 588 237 and Northern Cape with 299 381.

The counting of results commenced at every voting station soon after the closing time.

 In summary, the process is as follows:

•             All ballot papers are counted at the voting station where they are cast, in the presence of party agents, independent candidate agents and accredited observers.

•             Sealed ballot boxes are opened, and ballot papers are checked for the Electoral Commission’s security stamp. Ballots are then sorted and counted separately for each electoral contest, namely the proportional representation (PR) ballot, ward candidate ballot and, where applicable, the district council PR ballot.

•             Following the count, the results for each contest are reconciled against the ballot papers received, issued, unused, spoilt and counted at the voting station.

•             Result slips are captured in duplicate, signed by the Presiding Officer, and countersigned by party agents before being displayed at the voting station as soon as counting and tallying of results is completed.

•             The photographs of slips of each voting station will be taken by party agents. Party agents are allowed to take pictures of the signed result slips.

•             The results are subsequently scanned and captured at the local Electoral Commission office and subjected to verification and independent external auditing.

The Results Operations Centres (ROC) at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand currently provide political parties, independent candidates, observers and the media with an opportunity to monitor the capturing, verification and processing of results, reinforcing the transparency and integrity of the process.

The IEC has announced that once counting, capturing and verification have been completed and outstanding queries resolved, it will declare the final results and announce the allocation of seats in municipal councils within the prescribed seven-day period.