Election day is here: South Africans to cast their ballots in local polls

It’s been a busy past few weeks for South Africa’s political parties, as they have been criss-crossing the country, in a bid to woo voters ahead of the local government elections and now we’ll get to see just how effective that messaging has been! More than 26 million citizens have been registered to vote in the municipal polls on Monday, 1 November.

Voting stations open at 07:00 and will close at 21:00.

‘ALL SYSTEMS ARE GOOD FOR ELECTION DAY’ – IEC

IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini has called on South Africans to come out in their numbers and cast their ballots for the local government elections.

“Therefore, our clarion call to all compatriots, South Africans, is that let’s go out and vindicate our democratic right to vote,” said Mashinini said. He held a media briefing at the national results operation centre on Sunday evening, 31 October 2021.

It comes as the IEC wrapped up its second day of casting special votes, a process which it says was successful.

“We are pleased that we have completed the special voting successfully and, as matters stand now, we are very confident that all systems are good for the election day tomorrow [Monday],” Mashinini said.

He has reminded voters who were unable to cast their special ballots can still do so on Monday at their registered voting stations.

“The two days of the special votes have also offered us insight which we believe will now enable us to refine our operations to positively impact the voter experience that we expect from South Africans who will be coming out in their large numbers to cast their vote. Therefore we urge the 26 million compatriots who are eligible to come out and cast their votes in their respective voting stations. The network of 23 148 voting stations will be open for voting at 07:00”

IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini