The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed its readiness for special voting, with 2,655,067 voters approved to cast their ballots over two days ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Special voting begins today, Monday, 2 November, and continues on Tuesday, 3 November, ahead of Election Day on Wednesday, 4 November.

IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo confirmed the commission’s readiness during a media briefing on Sunday evening, saying 127,000 electoral officials had been deployed nationwide to oversee home visits and voting-station special votes.

The approved applications represent a 131% increase compared with the 1,147,759 special votes recorded during the 2021 Local Government Elections.

Of the approved voters, 678,525 will receive home visits due to physical infirmity or disability, while 1,976,542 are authorised to vote at their registered voting stations.

Gauteng recorded the highest overall number of approved special voters at 480,721, followed by the Eastern Cape with 401,971 and KwaZulu-Natal with 348,971.

Women account for the majority of approved applications, making up 74% of home-visit voters and 64% of those voting at stations.

Voting stations will operate from 08:00 to 17:00 on both days. Voters must cast their ballots at their registered stations and present an acceptable South African identity document.

Those approved for home visits have been urged to remain at their registered addresses until IEC officials arrive. Mamabolo warned that officials would not return if they failed to find voters during their first visit.

The IEC said special votes would not be counted on Monday or Tuesday. Instead, ballots will be securely stored and reconciled before being counted alongside ordinary votes on Election Day.

The commission also confirmed that all 23,696 voting stations had been secured as preparations continued for Wednesday’s elections.

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