| (1) | The Commission must determine and declare the result of an election by adding together the results received from all voting stations. |
| (2) | The determination and declaration of the result of an election must occur within seven days after the voting day, but not— |
| (a) | sooner than 21:00 of the second day after the voting day; or |
| (b) | before all objections made under section 55 have been dealt with in terms of that section, other than an appeal to the Electoral Court in terms of subsection (5) of that section. |
| (3) | The Commission may determine and declare the result of an election without having received the results of all voting stations, if— |
| (a) | to wait for the receipt of the result from every voting station would unduly and unreasonably delay the determination and declaration of the result of that election; and |
| (b) | the outstanding results are not likely to materially influence the overall result of that election. |
| (4) | If the Commission is unable to determine and declare the result of an election within the seven-day period required by subsection (2), the Commission must apply to the Electoral Court for an extension of that period. |
[Section 57(4) substituted by section 9 of Notice No. 914, GG 37069, dated 26 November 2013 (Act No. 18 of 2013))]
| (5) | The Electoral Court, on good cause shown, may extend the period within which the Commission must determine and declare the result of an election. |
