Sanef supports local journo after double voting
"It appears that Mare was genuinely operating in the public interest."
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) is concerned about last Friday’s arrest of a Mpumalanga community media editor, Etienne Mare.
The organisation indicated that it is looking at ways to offer him legal support.
Mare, a local journalist from Suburb News, published the video that shows how he voted twice, after a member of the public complained to him that she managed to vote three times.
Both he and the member of the public were arrested on Friday. They appeared in the Baberton Magistrate’s Court on charges of contravening Section 88(d), voting more than once, Section 89(i)(a) intentionally making a false statement and Section 90(2) infringement of secrecy of the Electoral Commission Act, 1996.
ALSO READ: UPDATE : Journo charged after voting twice
“He wanted to test the IEC’s voting systems. In the video he shows that it is easy to rub off the indelible ink mark on his thumb – a supposed fail-safe system to prevent citizens from voting twice. Mare specifically spoiled this second vote so that it would have no impact on the election results,” Sanef said in a press release on Monday.
The organisation added that it does not believe that journalists are above the law and it is aware of the fact that it is an offence to vote twice.
“However, it appears that Mare was genuinely operating in the public interest. He resorted to these measures to conclusively test the IEC systems with the purpose of highlighting possible electoral fraud. The fact that he spoiled his second vote is an indication of the fact that he was not trying to subvert the voting process.”
Mare is expected back in court on June 28.
ALSO READ: Video of two voting more than once, causes uproar
