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Special voting starts with nearly all stations open on time

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Ongoing: Elections Hot

Empty school hall with rows of plain wooden voting booths on a polished floor.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said close to 99% of voting stations opened on time at 8am on Monday, the first day of special voting. Voting was slow in the City of Cape Town, and two serious incidents involved election officials.

Masego Shiburi, Deputy Chief Electoral Commissioner of the IEC, spoke at a media briefing at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand. She said voters were being assisted smoothly in most cases. At 10:30am, stations in 10 of 116 wards in Cape Town had opened for special votes.

Stations stay open until 5pm on Monday and Tuesday. Ordinary voting resumes on 4 November. Voters can check station details by SMS at R1 per SMS.

About 2.6 million people are registered for special voting across the country. In Diepkloof East, Soweto, elderly and disabled voters cast ballots at an IEC station inside Footprints Hospice. An 82-year-old woman there said: "My vote will bring a change."

IEC official Mamabolo said: "Notwithstanding these unfortunate incidents, the Commission is overall establishing a strong performance across the country." He expects further improvement on the second day.

Key facts

Who
Masego Shiburi (Deputy Chief Electoral Commissioner of the IEC); Mamabolo (IEC official quoted in the article (surname only given)); Electoral Commission (Electoral body running the special voting); Independent Electoral Commission (Electoral body that established the voting station at the hospice)
What
The IEC said special voting for the 2026 Local Government Elections started without incident at most stations, though voting was slow in the City of Cape Town and two serious incidents involving election officials were reported. Stations stay open until 5pm on Monday and Tuesday.
When
2 November 2026
Where
Cape Town, uKhahlamba district, North West
Status
Reported

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