With the local government elections officially under way, some voters across parts of the country have been taking pictures of their marked ballot papers on Monday, despite a stern warning by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), who said that it may hinder the election process.
The images of the ballots were seen on Twitter on Monday, by citizens who voted for the EFF and ActionSA. The Twitter handles do not immediately identify the voters and guarantees them some anonymity. Both party leaders, Julius Malema and Herman Mashaba, liked the tweets with their respective party’s marked on the ballot.
The warning about the pictures of ballot papers in the voting booth came from IEC’s chairman Glen Mashinini, during a briefing on Sunday night, held at the commission’s election results centre, in Tshwane.
The IEC was asked how they would be able to enforce the rule to which it said: “I think the issue is not so much policing people, but rather persuading people from taking photographs of the marked ballots.
“This is to protect the secrecy of their votes because that possibility of taking a (picture) of a marked ballot can be used quite nefariously. There have been instances in the past where employers, especially for domestic workers, would say go vote at the station and come back with proof that you voted in a particular way.
“So it's about protecting the secrecy, yet, at the same time, protecting those vulnerable groups in society, who may – at the behest of their employers – may be subject to abuse during that time,” the IEC said.
Despite the truncated timeline to prepare for the 2021 instalment of the local government elections, with 41 days as compared to the usual 82, Mashinini said the commission is confident and has done all it could to host a fair election.
The commission said it has worked tirelessly with security clusters, media, and other organisations, to put together the platform to host an election.
“Can we guarantee that there won’t be disruptions tomorrow? No. What we can guarantee is our commitment to ensure that all stations open and everybody is availed of an opportunity to cast their ballots,” the IEC added on Sunday night.
One voting station in KZN had not opened on Monday morning due to a roadblock and acts of arson. The province’s acting electoral officer Ntombifuthi Masinga said on Monday that, despite the challenges, especially in areas like Camperdown, Umzinto and Jozini, a majority of the voting stations in the province were opened.
“Two voting stations in Umzinto had not opened by Sunday and, on Monday, one of them remained closed because the community decided to dig trenches on the access road to the station, and it was the only voting station that did not open in the province. We had to move the voting station from the community hall to another venue nearby, but still within the voting district.
“A few others opened late in Camperdown, between ward two, three and five, because of a traditional leadership dispute. We had to get new staff members because locals, who were the electoral officers, were not comfortable and they were receiving threats.
“There were blockages in ward 15 in Jozini, and the SAPS and the municipality had to clear the roads. There were also road blockages in the uThukela region, but those were cleared quickly by SAPS. In KwaMaphumulo, a gate was locked at a school,” Masinga said.
Political Bureau