Elections: All You Need To Know

With 546 political parties contesting the local government elections on 4 November, with almost 137 000 candidates vying for just over 10 500 council seats, a political expert has described the number of parties as presenting a logistical nightmare for the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

Dr Oscar van Heerden, research associate and senior research fellow at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership, believes there is need for new legislation, curbing the ease with which political parties can participate in elections.

While agreeing that a staggering number of parties were “a nuisance”, independent election analyst Michael Atkins, this week said proactive mitigations were possible “with careful legislative amendments”.

“For example, if ward votes did not count for PR (proportional representation) seat allocations, then ward elections would tend to have only a few candidates and be much more meaningful,” Atkins told the Mail & Guardian.

Anticipating “a technically sound election”, but warning a post-election litigation being “the real risk for the IEC”, Professor Sethulego Matebisi of the University of Free State and head of the Department of Sociology, said IEC readiness was “interesting aspect of this election”.

“The deadline was defensible and so was the Constitutional Court’s ruling for the ANC.

“There is also a reprinting risk, since 66% of the ballots were already reprinted.

“But overall, we can expect a technically sound election.

“But post-election litigation is the real risk for the IEC, against the background of the outstanding MK Party dashboard outage remaining a concern for the IEC,” cautioned

This, as the IEC has assured of having put systems in place to avert any vote rigging.

The IEC has vowed that there would be no repeat of the 2024 polls, when the leader board at the national results centre went blank for two hours.

Here are some key questions from voters in the M&G A – Z Guide to the 2026 local government polls:

Checking your voter details before heading for your voting station.

In confirming your voter registration status to find your voting station – checking your ward details and voters’ roll sequence number – SMS your identity number to 32810. The voting station finder is: https://maps.elections.org.za

Voters unable to cast their vote on voting day due to illness, work or old age.

The IEC is also preparing to accommodate voters who cannot cast their ballots on election day, with 2.6 million special votes approved and more than 600 000 home visits scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

A total of 80% of approved home visits are for voters older than 60, while women account for 74% of approved special votes.

The election ballot paper.

When you vote to elect your public representative, you will get two ballot - for a person to represent your local geographic ward and the second is a vote for the party which you would like to be in charge of your municipality.

This is called the proportional representation or “PR ballot”.

Your ward vote can be for someone who represents a party or for an independent candidate.

This person will be your political representative - the one you go to when confronted with problems in your area – electricity, lack of municipal service delivery or safety concerns.

What to bring to the voting station?

A copy of their South African identity document: green barcoded ID book or smart ID card.

Voting staff.

The IEC has recruited about 188 500 electoral officials.

These include presiding officers, deputy presiding officers, area managers and electoral officers, who have undergone training to ensure efficiency.