The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has moved to clear up the confusion around its update to the election results dashboard on Monday.
The commission updated the tally to reflect the total number of votes from the two National Assembly ballots and final seat allocation for the recent elections.
This follows an uproar on social media over the “sudden inflation” of voter numbers on the dashboard after the update saw parties increasing their “initial” voter counts, which had not yet reflected the regional aspect.
“In the 2024 elections registered voters received two ballots for the National Assembly, one national ballot and one regional ballot. Just over 16-million registered voters voted, casting 31.92-million ballots across the nine regional and national ballots,” the IEC said.
The third ballot received by voters was for provincial legislatures.
Parties such as the MK Party (MKP), which has been vocal about claims of vote-rigging and has called for a rerun, responded to the confusion about the updates, again questioning the IEC’s integrity and credibility.
IEC clarifies update to results dashboard
Image: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has moved to clear up the confusion around its update to the election results dashboard on Monday.
The commission updated the tally to reflect the total number of votes from the two National Assembly ballots and final seat allocation for the recent elections.
This follows an uproar on social media over the “sudden inflation” of voter numbers on the dashboard after the update saw parties increasing their “initial” voter counts, which had not yet reflected the regional aspect.
“In the 2024 elections registered voters received two ballots for the National Assembly, one national ballot and one regional ballot. Just over 16-million registered voters voted, casting 31.92-million ballots across the nine regional and national ballots,” the IEC said.
The third ballot received by voters was for provincial legislatures.
Parties such as the MK Party (MKP), which has been vocal about claims of vote-rigging and has called for a rerun, responded to the confusion about the updates, again questioning the IEC’s integrity and credibility.
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The commission confirmed the Electoral Act prescribes for the calculation of compensatory seats after national compensatory (N) ballots and regional (R) ballots are taken into account. Hence the listing of “N+R” on the results dashboard, it said.
“This is done to ensure the allocation of compensatory seats take into account the regional strength of all political parties, thus meeting the proportional representation in general demanded by the constitution.”
The MKP said it would join the ATM in its court challenge against the electoral outcomes. Both parties are members of the “Progressive Caucus” in parliament against the government of national unity (GNU).
The ANC's GNU was joined by GOOD, the IFP, PA and DA, who all voted to elect President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday. The Progressive Caucus nominated EFF leader Julius Malema as its candidate for president.
Several dignitaries, including heads of state, are expected to attend Ramaphosa's inauguration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday.
TimesLIVE
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