The Human Sciences Research Council reports that 95% of surveyed voters were satisfied with Electoral Commission services, highlighting improvements in voting efficiency and accessibility nationwide.
The findings, published in the HSRC’s 2026 Election Satisfaction Survey (ESS), indicate that shorter queues, accessible voting stations and positive interactions with electoral officials contributed to a generally favourable voting experience during the Local Government Elections.
According to the survey, 91% of voters spent no more than 30 minutes waiting to cast their ballots, marking an improvement compared with the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.
The shorter waiting times represented a return to levels recorded during the 2021 Local Government Elections, reversing the longer queues experienced in 2024.
Access to voting stations was also rated positively, with 90% of respondents reporting travel times of 30 minutes or less.
Presenting the findings at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand, HSRC researcher Dr Ben Roberts highlighted the improvements in voting convenience.
“Voting was generally convenient; 90% travelled no more than 30 minutes (not shown), and 91% queued no longer than 30 minutes,” Roberts said.
The survey found that satisfaction with Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) officials remained consistently high, with 95% of respondents expressing satisfaction with the quality of service received.
Voters assessed officials across six indicators, including helpfulness, patience, professionalism, friendliness, trustworthiness and impartiality.
Helpfulness received the highest rating, with 79% of respondents saying officials demonstrated this quality to a great extent. Patience and professionalism each received 78%, followed by friendliness at 77%.
Trustworthiness received 74%, while impartiality was rated positively to a great extent by 65% of voters, indicating an area where public confidence could be strengthened.
Accessibility emerged as another important finding, with 86% of respondents indicating that voting stations accommodated elderly people and persons with disabilities.
The survey recorded broadly comparable assessments among voters with and without disabilities, suggesting that accessibility measures benefited different groups.
However, the HSRC identified opportunities to improve arrangements for visually impaired voters, pregnant women and voters accompanied by babies.
Understanding voting procedures was generally straightforward, with 58% of respondents describing the process inside voting stations as very easy and a further 38% saying it was easy.
Despite these positive assessments, information gaps remained.
Thirteen percent of voters reported having far too little information about voting procedures, while another 13% indicated that they had too little information.
Respondents in the Eastern Cape were most likely to report insufficient information, while those in the Northern Cape were least likely.
Ballot paper accessibility also received favourable ratings, with 93% of voters reporting that identifying their preferred political party or candidate was easy.
Overall, 94% expressed satisfaction with the ballot papers.
Voter education was another area assessed by the survey. Sixty percent of respondents described the IEC’s voter education campaign as very effective, while 28% considered it somewhat effective.
Radio and television remained important channels for reaching voters, with 61% rating each as very useful for election information and education. Social media followed at 59%.
The findings demonstrate the importance of accessible information, efficient public services and inclusive electoral processes in supporting democratic participation.
While the results suggest improvements in election administration, the HSRC identified intimidation, perceptions of impartiality, inclusive voting arrangements and information gaps as areas requiring continued attention.
The survey was conducted at 300 voting stations across all nine provinces, with fieldworkers interviewing randomly selected voters throughout Election Day.
A total of 13,198 interviews were completed, representing an 88% realisation rate and a reported margin of error below 1%.
The findings provide insight into the experiences of participating voters and highlight how continued improvements in electoral administration, accessibility and voter education can strengthen public confidence in democratic institutions.
