JOHANNESBURG - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says results from 18 municipalities had been concluded by 9am on Thursday, as the capturing and verification process continues following Wednesday’s local government elections.
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said 22,983 of the 66,073 expected results slips had been captured, representing 34.8% of the total.
A further 23,444 results slips, or 35.5%, had been scanned into the results system, while 16,791 slips, representing approximately 25%, had undergone independent auditing.
READ: IEC: Votes are in safe hands as results verification gets underway
Mamabolo said the Commission had made faster progress than during the 2021 local government elections. At the same stage in that election, only seven municipalities had completed the process.
He attributed the progress to improvements in the results-capturing process, despite longer ballot papers, more contestants and higher expected voter participation.
The IEC said the results process includes several quality assurance measures, including double-blind capturing, scanning of results slips and independent auditing of the entire population of results slips.
Mamabolo emphasised that votes are counted at the voting stations where they were cast, in the presence of party agents and accredited observers.
The Commission also urged political parties, independent candidates and their supporters to remain patient while the process unfolds.
It warned against spreading unverified information or disinformation about election results, saying this could fuel tensions, violence and damage to property.