The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is working around the clock to print approximately 27 million ballot papers by Friday, October 30, following a Constitutional Court ruling that has complicated preparations for the November 4 local government elections.
IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo acknowledged that the ruling, together with the commission’s decision to extend the benefit of the judgment to other political parties in similar circumstances, had significantly increased the logistical demands on the electoral body.
The commission had initially planned to complete ballot printing by October 18. However, it now has until the end of this week to complete the additional printing required to accommodate the changes to candidate lists.
The printing challenge follows a Constitutional Court ruling in favour of the African National Congress (ANC), which challenged the IEC’s decision to exclude its candidates from the November elections after the party failed to submit its final candidate lists digitally by the August 28 deadline.
The court ordered the inclusion of 181 ANC candidates across six municipalities. These comprise 51 ward candidates and 130 proportional representation candidates in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Mangaung Metro.
Following the ruling, the IEC extended the benefit of the judgment to 32 other political parties that had nominated eligible candidates and paid their election deposits but had failed to submit their final candidate lists.
The parties had intended to contest elections in 121 municipalities, involving metropolitan, local and district council ballots.
The commission said excluding parties in similar circumstances would be inconsistent with the principle of equal treatment and its constitutional obligation to ensure free and fair elections.
However, 13 other parties were found not to qualify for the same relief because they had failed to meet requirements including the payment of election deposits and voter registration in the municipalities they intended to contest.
The IEC announced on October 16 that approximately 33 million ballot papers would be required under the revised arrangements. At that stage, 27 million had already been printed, leaving 6.6 million outstanding.
The commission had held back printing for the six municipalities affected by the ANC’s court challenge while awaiting the Constitutional Court’s judgment.
However, the subsequent extension of the ruling to 32 other parties introduced further logistical complications.
In an interview published on October 25, Mamabolo said the IEC was working around the clock to print approximately 27 million ballot papers by October 30 to accommodate the changes arising from the court ruling and the inclusion of the additional parties.
The two figures describe different stages of the process. The 6.6 million figure was the outstanding amount under the initial revised requirement, while the later report describes the printing workload following the broader changes to candidate lists.
The revised arrangements are expected to carry significant costs. Mamabolo said the final cost of the printing exercise was still being determined as the IEC assessed different printing arrangements and pricing structures.
The commission intends to cover the additional expenditure through savings within its existing budget, with no anticipated need to approach National Treasury for additional funding at the time of his remarks.
The printing deadline leaves the IEC with little time to complete the work and distribute ballot papers to the relevant municipalities.
Despite the disruption, the IEC has maintained that the developments are not expected to affect the November 4 election date.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said on October 26 that logistical, technical and security preparations for the elections were in place.
Nearly 29.2 million registered voters are expected to participate in the elections, with approximately 137,000 candidates contesting just over 10,500 council seats.
Special voting is scheduled for November 2 and 3, ahead of Election Day on November 4.
The IEC’s immediate challenge is to complete the revised ballot-printing process by Friday (October 30) and ensure that the necessary materials reach voting stations in time.
Mamabolo said the commission was working around the clock to recover lost time, acknowledging that the court proceedings had complicated preparations after the IEC had been progressing according to its original plan. The commission is now racing to meet the revised deadline as Election Day approaches.
