IEC Elections Data

Theme: Governance Date Added: 2018-11-20

What is it?

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) publishes data on election results, voting stations and party lists which can be downloaded or accessed via an API.

Key Points

  • Download election results in PDF or XLSX format
  • Voting stations by province
  • Political party lists
  • Candidates lists

Why is it Important?

The IEC is an independent entity that manages elections at all levels of government. The data that it publishes is critical for ensuring transparency about who you can vote for, when to vote, where to vote and the results of elections.


How can it be accessed and used?

Election results

Election results can be accessed in PDF or XLSX format for national and provincial elections and for municipal or local government elections. To download a bulk set of all results as CSV file select either of these radio buttons on the left: "Downloadable report data" or "Downloadable detailed result".

Election timetables

Municipal by-elections are held throughout the year and timetables are updated through regular pdf notices. The site also posts information on national and provincial timetables.

Candidate lists

The candidates proposed by political parties for elections are published by province, for the nearest upcoming elections as a series of pdf notices.

Political party list

Political parties need to register with the IEC to participate in municipal, provincial or national elections; and the status of political parties can be viewed here.

Voting stations

You can locate a specific voting station by ward via the map view, or the lists that are published prior to an election, such as for the 2016 municipal elections.

API

Most of the above data can be accessed via an API for which you need to request a user name and password and follow these instructions.

Municipal Election 2016 Voting Numbers (ward level)

Location: South Africa
Format: CSV
Year: 2016Last Checked:None
Online: Access URL
Column/
File Names:
  • Municipality: Municipality name
  • WardID: Ward number
  • TotalVotesCast: Total votes cast in the region

Municipal Elections 2016 Candidate List

Location: South Africa
Format: CSV
Year: 2016Last Checked:None
Online: Access URL
Column/
File Names:
  • Municipality: Municipality name
  • Party: Political party representing
  • Surname: Surname of candidate
  • election
  • municipality
  • province
  • parliament

Resource contact name:Independent Electoral Commission

Creation or start date:2018-11-20

Resource contact updated at:2018-12-14

Spatial coverage  South Africa http://www.geonames.org/953987/south-africa.html

Where else has the resource been used?

Year Project Name::
2017 Postliberation Politics: Evidence from Demographic Determinants of South Africa Voting Behaviour in the 2009 National Election
2017 Displaying voter gains and losses: Local government elections of 2011 vs 2016
2016 2016 Elections: Voter turnout at 58%