South Africa’s IEC apologises for ballot delays at 217 Cape Town stations
About 780,000 South Africans cast special votes on Monday, the first day of early voting in the local elections, the IEC estimated. Late ballot deliveries delayed 217 Cape Town stations, and the commission says operations will improve before Wednesday.
South Africa's Electoral Commission (IEC) apologised on Monday after late ballot papers delayed voting at 217 stations in Cape Town. Monday was the first day of special voting for the 2026 Local Government Elections, Daily Maverick reported. Despite the problems, the commission called the day a positive start. The IEC said ballot distribution ran into the early hours of Monday. It was not finished by the scheduled 8am opening time. All 217 affected stations later opened. They stayed open until 6pm instead of 5pm so more people could vote. The commission said the delays were not politically motivated. It blamed pressure on ballot production and distribution. Special voting is for registered voters who cannot reach their stations on Election Day because of disability, illness or work. The IEC estimated that 780,000 special votes were cast across the country on Monday. IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said some problems were bound to happen in an operation of this size. "When you deal with a programme as big as an election, involving 127,000 staff members and 23,000 voting stations, aberrations are going to arise," he told a media briefing in Midrand.…
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