Ballot papers left unattended over night

As more election irregularities arise in different areas including dumped ballot papers, Northsider understands that ballot papers were left unattended at Panaroma Primary School, Weltevreden Park.

A source of the school (who wished to remain anonymous) said they were shocked to find ballot papers left at their school hall.

“The ballot boxes were just there without anyone supervising that no tampering took place,” said the source.

The source added that the ballot boxes were only picked up by a truck just after 11am on 8 May.

Ward 89 councillor Ingrid Reinten, whose ward the school falls under, said though the incident could have been a bit of a security glitch, she is confident that those ballot papers (boxes) were not tampered with.

“Our party agents were there when votes were counted and they verified the counting process. The numbers that they gave to me corresponds with those I got from the Independent Electoral Commission’s website.”

By the same token, the councillor applauded the commission.

“The operation was very smooth and IEC officials were helpful throughout the whole election process.”

Reinten also expressed her satisfaction with the total voters turnout in her ward.

“We had 83 percent of registered voters who showed up to vote on the day. That is even higher than the national voter turnout.”

IEC is yet to respond to Northsider’s questions.