The EFF says it is concerned about the failure of the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) voter management devices at several voting stations in the country on the day of the 2024 general national and provincial elections.
EFF elections spokesperson Sixolise Gcilishe said the party has received reports that the queues on Wednesday were so long that some people decided to leave the voting stations and go home or to their respective workplaces.
Voters’ roll machines failures
“The EFF notes, with urgent concern, the failure of IEC voters’ roll machines in several voting stations across the country. This has led to the resolution by the organisation to use the physical voters’ roll. This is gravely worrying as it takes time as well as compromises the accuracy of the voting system.
“Additionally, the EFF is getting reports on the slow process of voting. As a result, many people give up and go home or to their respective workplaces. This is endangering our democratic process.
“The EFF hopes there is a genuine glitch in the system. And this is not a ploy by the IEC for an unplanned second day of voting. [Thus] having ballots sleep over in the homes of presiding officers.
“The EFF calls on the IEC to urgently attend to this issue and have the system back online as soon as possible. This in order to avoid compromising this critical election. Furthermore, we call on all fighters and supporters of the EFF to exercise patience in this regard. Remember, the opportunity to install competent leadership will be worth the wait,” he said.
IEC reports great progress
IEC national spokesperson Kate Bapela said by 12pm on Wednesday, elections operations around the country reported good progress. He said there were minimal incidents reported.
Bapela said instructions were issued for voting to proceed on the manual voters’ roll. This was in the cases where there were difficulties with the IEC’s voter management device.
“Voting in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (NPE2024) got off to a steady start. This with an overwhelming majority of our voting stations – 93%. The turn out was reported open both online and physically. The remainder of the voting stations opened soon thereafter. There were a number of voting stations that delayed opening because of late delivery of materials. Also due to delayed escorts by security services or protests by certain community members.
“In most stations queues had formed even before the stations opened. This is testament to the enthusiasm of South Africans to record their political choices. The commission is pleased to report that all our trained staff members reported for duty. They started welcoming the first of the 26 million eligible voters at 7am. This at the 23,292 voting stations across the country,” said Bapela.
