Special votes kick off ahead of national elections tomorrow
JOBURG - According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), nearly 400 000 special votes would be cast during home visits and at voting stations across the countries on 5 and 6 May. However, the IEC warned voters, who had not applied for a special vote, not to go to voting stations in the hope of casting their vote on 5 or 6 May as they would be turned away.
Thousands of voters who qualified for a special vote have begun casting their votes.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), nearly 400 000 special votes would be cast during home visits and at voting stations across the countries on 5 and 6 May.
However, the IEC warned voters, who had not applied for a special vote, not to go to voting stations in the hope of casting their vote on 5 or 6 May as they would be turned away.
IEC officials would visit 295 731 voters at their homes, retirement centres, hospitals and health care facilities and other places of residence allowing them to cast their ballots in the national election.
Of these voters, 292 510 would also cast a provincial ballot.
Additionally, 90 698 voters also successfully applied to cast a special ballot at the voting station where they were registered.
Of the 22 263 voting stations, 3 593 would not be operational on 5 and 6 May because these had no special vote applications.
However, of those voting stations that were operational, not all were free of challenges.
The voting station at Crawford College Lonehill was described as “chaotic and “disorganised”.
After waiting for over an hour to cast her vote, Sylvia MacDonald was turned away because IEC officials could not find her name on the voters roll.
According to MacDonald, she had received a SMS confirming her voter registration and had successfully applied for a special vote.
Despite producing her special vote application form, she was advised to return to vote on 7 May. “How do I know that my name will be there when I come back,” she asked. She added that her application for a special vote was redundant because she was now forced to return to vote on 7 May.
Lynne Sinclair, 91, said she had arrived at the voting station at 8.15am to avoid the queues, but on her arrival she found that the station had not been set up.
“It was completely disorganised… The voting station was supposed to open at 9am but not a thing was done. They only completed setting up after 9.30am.”
However, other voters praised the IEC for making provisions for special votes.
Rosemarie Kane said the process was easy and convenient, adding that it took her about 10-15 minutes to cast her vote.
Kane said she opted for a special vote because she would not be in town on election day.
