IEC targets 15-minute waiting time in queues for 2026 vote

Long queues seen as deterrrents to voter participation

- By Queenin Masuabi

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is preparing for a significantly improved voter experience in the 2026 local government elections, with an ambitious goal of ensuring that no voter waits more than 15 minutes in a queue.

This is according to the IEC's general manager for electoral matters, James Aphane, who spoke to Sunday World about the commission's efforts to streamline its systems and address concerns raised in previous local government and provincial and national elections.

Aphane acknowledged that long queues remain one of the biggest deterrents to voter participation, referring to the 2024 provincial and national elections.

“We have experienced challenges at certain stations where there were long queues,” Aphane said.

“If people are in a queue for a very long time, chances are they will leave. The statement that some people may have left may be true. We may have to dig deep into the data.”

He said the commission has been analysing voter flow at stations with high registration numbers and high turnout and wants to pay extra attention to such centres.

“We have closely looked at voting station efficiency. For voting stations with high registration and high turnout, we are introducing voting centres where there will be mechanisms such as scanning for a QR code that will tell you whether you are at the right station or not.”