- The counting process is almost as important as the vote itself.
- The IEC has a rigorous procedure for this, including the addition of counting officers with mandatory numeracy skills that didn't exist in precious national elections.
- According to legislation, the IEC has seven days within which the final results must be announced.
On Wednesday night, as a number of voting stations continued to experience long queues and delays, the IEC at the Results Operating Centre began preparing for the slow process of election results.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo clarified that the counting process would begin once the voting stations were closed and everyone had voted. He said that party agents and observers would be in the room as the counting process took place under the eye of security services.
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When the voting station closes it gets turned into a counting station. The preparation includes creating more space, dismantling voting booths and sealing voting materials not used in the counting process (i.e. markers).
These rules also apply: no pens are allowed on the tables; no agent or observer is allowed to handle the ballots; no use of phones is allowed; and the counting officers' decision is final.
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A new category of staff was introduced since the 2021 electoral amendment laws, called the counting officer. This person needed higher-than-average numeracy skills when recruited, and their main job is to assist the presiding officer in the counting of votes.
Ballots are counted at the voting stations where they were cast.
How the counting process works:
- Sealed ballot boxes verified, opened and emptied. Including special votes.
- Ballots unfolded face down and checked for the IEC stamp. Ballots without stamps are invalid and not counted.
- Ballots are then grouped according to National, Regional and Provincial. Verification and reconciliation checks are done to ensure all ballots received at that voting station are accounted for. Ballots received, unused ballots and used ballots (including cancelled ballots) are all captured in a ballot paper statement.
- Ballots are then counted. During this stage, they are separated into different piles for each party/candidate and grouped into 10s with paper clips, then grouped into 100s using elastic bands. Questionable ballots are set to one side, and the counting officer makes a determination on each one to determine if it can be counted or not. Another round of verification takes place during this stage. Usually, this is the stage where most of the disputes are raised by party agents, and then resolved.
- Results slips for each of the three ballot, papers are then completed. During this stage, final calculations are done, the votes tallied, and a gain is verified. Once the results slips are completed and signed by the counting officer, party agents sign as witnesses too. One copy of the results slip is pasted on the door of the voting station. The other is transported to the local IEC office where it is scanned and captured on the results system.
Another round of verification by external auditors is done once in the system.
Objections can be raised at any stage before the signing of the results sheet by party agents. Observers are not allowed to raise objections.
Any interested party may raise an objection if they deem it material to the results of the election after the counting process. This must be made to the IEC by 17:00, two days after voting day.
According to legislation, the IEC has seven days within which the final results must be announced.
Mamabolo said that even with the extra ballot in this election, the IEC expected to meet that deadline.
