#IMadeMyMark: Queensburgh polling stations report few glitches
Polling stations in the greater Queensburgh area, with a few hiccups and struggles, are on the way to achieving a succesful day of voting.
THE early morning sunshine was welcomed by some of the early voters this morning, Wednesday, 8 May, who got out of bed to join queues to vote at the beginning of the official voting day in this, South Africa’s 6th democratic election.
While some grumbled at having been pulled out of bed early on a public holiday, most were in good spirits at the voting stations in the greater Queensburgh area which at first all seemed to be open and working.
However, by 7.30am, the voting station at Queensburgh Girls High, one of the largest for the area, had still not opened causing voters standing outside on the road to begin complaining.
ALSO READ: #IMadeMyMark: How to report your problems with elections 2019
One voter, Jackie Schutte of Queensburgh, shared on the Queensburgh News facebook page that she felt the problem could have been handled better.
“We were first in the queue. Voting delayed by an hour and a half. They would not, unlike previous years, allow anyone or cars onto the grounds until 7am which caused congestion in Conanor Road which is very narrow,” said Schutte adding that elderly and frail people had nowhere to sit until voting got underway at 8.30am.
“Compared to previous years this was very poorly controlled and initially the Presiding officer instructed the ADT security personnel to relay information about the delay until we insisted he as the official IEC officer do his job.”
By the time Queensburgh News arrived at the voting station at 8.45am, voting was underway and chairs had been put out for people to sit, although few in the queue seemed to be making use of them.
The presiding officer for the station, Daryl Voster said despite the delays in starting, things had been running smoothly although he did say he felt he could have used more staff at the station.
Voter, Canisius Tobia, who spoke to the Queensburgh News after finally casting his vote following a wait of almost three hours said he felt the procedure was far more difficult than at previous elections. “Last time was easy,” he said. “I got here early at 6.30am and waited for almost three hours before I could go in and vote. Some people even left and said they were going home and would try again later.”
READ ALSO: #IMadeMyMark: Highway granny shares why her vote is important (VIDEO)
Another voter that was disillusioned with the process this year was 85-year-old Gillian van der Heyden who said she had applied for a special vote at her polling station in Seaview but ended up having to come back on 8 May because no-one heard her when she shouted for help to get to the voting station on arriving to cast her special vote.
“I hope I am around for the next vote and that things are better by then,” she said, proudly showing off the mark on her thumb with a big smile despite her tale of woe. “I made my mark in the end, but it was far more difficult than it should have been!”
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Highway Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
