The South African Electoral Commission celebrated this Wednesday (29) the end of another electoral cycle marked by “popular participation that exceeded expectations”.
Sy Mamabolo, head of the country’s Electoral Commission, said that there was a “significant engagement of South African society in the democratic process”, and cited that participation in voting during this Wednesday was “well beyond” the last election.
Although the exact numbers are still being counted, Mamabolo expressed confidence that the population’s participation in this election “will exceed the 66% recorded in 2019”, the last election.
Polls in South Africa closed at 9pm local time, but those still queuing at voting centers still had the opportunity to vote.
According to the Electoral Commission, the vote counting process will begin immediately after all voters have exercised their right.
As reported by Al Jazeeravoting day was marked by tranquility, but there were reports of interruptions in the power and water supply at some polling stations.
This election, the seventh post-apartheid, is being seen by analysts as one of the most important, considering that South Africa’s largest party, the African National Congress (ANC), could end up losing its majority in Parliament.
In this election, voters are choosing the new composition of the National Assembly, the 400-seat South African Parliament, which, in turn, chooses who will be the country’s new leader. In addition to choosing national parliamentarians, citizens are also choosing the new composition of provincial parliaments.
Melanie Verwoerd, a political analyst cited by Al Jazeera, said that the ANC could still emerge from these elections with around 45% of the votes, remaining the main political force in the country, however, losing its comfortable majority, which guaranteed it in recent years the power to choose the president of the country with a certain “tranquility”. The opposition Democratic Alliance (AD) party and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, led by Julius Malema, are fighting for a smaller share of the electorate.
It is expected that the counting of votes may take a little longer, with forecasts pointing to the release of the final results on Sunday (2). The Electoral Commission has up to seven days after the polls close to announce the full results, as established by law.
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