Here's South Africa's election in numbers

A record number of 48 political parties will contest in South Africa’s national elections on May 8, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Wednesday.

IEC announced the final tally after the deadline for submission of party candidate lists and payment of deposits.

While only 29 political parties contested the national elections in 2014, a record number will contest even the provincial legislature elections in 2019.

Gauteng province has the highest number of political parties at 36, while the smallest number is in the Northern Cape at 21.

Election numbers

• 48 political parties
• 26,756,898 registered voters
• 74.6% of voting age population is registered to vote in 2019
• 29,334 registered voters in the diaspora (to vote on April 27)
• 22,924 polling stations
• Over 50 million ballot papers to be printed by IEC