‘Three ballots is our usual thing’: Counting of election results won’t be slowed down – IEC

The counting of 2024 election results will not be slowed down by the additional ballot after South African citizens cast their vote later this month.

This is according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

South Africa’s seventh election since 1994 will be held on 29 May.

Three election ballots

For the first time, three ballots will be used after the Electoral Amendment Act was signed into law in April 2023.

The legislation allows independent candidates to participate in the general elections.

Eligible voters will mark their X on three ballot papers to elect political parties and independent candidates to represent them in the National Assembly and the nine provincial legislatures.

Local municipalities used to separate ballots

In an interview with Newsbreak, IEC deputy chief electoral officer (CEO) for outreach, Mawethu Mosery noted that while the concept of three separate ballots may be familiar to voters in many local municipalities, it will be a new experience for voters in metropolitan areas and marks the first instance of its implementation in the general election.

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“In many parts of our country particularly rural municipalities, they are used to three ballots for local government.

“Yes, it is for the first time that we have it nationwide and electing the National Assembly, but in our logistics managing, three ballots is our usual thing,” he said on Monday.

Additional ballot will not delay counting of election results

Mosery stressed that the additional ballot will not delay counting after election day.

“What has become unusual and why the count might take longer, is the number of voters that have registered for this election at 27.7 million. Yes, it will not slow down the counting [of results].”

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He said it may, however, slow down the voting process for citizens when they cast their ballot at voting booths due to the number of parties and candidates contesting the elections.

“[There are] 52 on the national ballot – and between 30 and 44 for the regional and provincial ballot.”

Three ballots explained

The first ballot, known as the national compensatory, is exclusively contested by political parties and will be represented by the color blue.

The second ballot, the regional ballot, will be open to independent candidates as well as political parties, distinguished by the color orange.

Lastly, the provincial ballot, represented by the color pink, will feature contests among both political parties and independent candidates.

When will election results be announced?

The IEC recently confirmed that for the first time, the final national and provincial election results will not be declared on the usual Saturday once voting day has passed.

Instead, the results will be announced a day later on Sunday, 2 June.

The extension will provide the IEC with extra time to accurately count the votes, address any disputes, and conduct the necessary seat allocation calculations prior to the results announcement ceremony.

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The IEC was allocated R2.3 billion for the 2024/2025 financial year to ensure that the commission delivers free and fair elections.

The commission had targeted 39.7 million people for this year’s elections, but only 27.7 million registered to vote.

In the 2019 national and provincial elections, the voters roll stood at 26.7 million eligible voters.

Voter turnout in the last general election was 66.05%.