IEC races to deal with serious complaints over voters roll

Political parties have raised serious grievances in the 2021 local government elections with the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) over voters not appearing on the voters roll.

Many voters who have registered a change of address have also complained that they are unable to cast their vote as a result of the new information not being captured and IEC staff not been adequately trained.

Several insiders that Business Day spoke to have confirmed that there was an  “upheaval” in the IEC’s party liaison committee (PLC) meetings today, and it is now understood that the electoral body is racing against time to rectify many of the problems. It is sending through supplementary forms to voting stations, which would allow a vote if one can provide a proof of residence.

The PLC is made up of many political parties — a body that the IEC consults with in terms of operational management of polls.

This comes amid complaints from parties that many voters who registered in the last registration weekend were still not on the voters roll and were turned away from their polling stations.

There was also problems with the IEC’s voter management system voters — which it had introduced for the first time in this election, against the advice of many political parties — and the backup “zip-zip” machines could not be used because the commission had not supplied paper for them. Under-trained and “incompetent” presiding officers were another problem raised by parties. 

It is understood that parties who raised objection with the IEC during the PLC meetings that took place on election day so far include the ANC, DA, EFF and Freedom Front Plus, as well as the other parties.

Polls opened at 7am and are expected to close at 9pm as it stands.

The IEC is under pressure to rectify the problems across the country, which parties described as going beyond mere glitches. If the IEC fails to adequately address the complaints so far, parties could turn to the courts for relief, though this is described as a “worse-case scenario”. 

Voting in the local government elections got off to a slow start on Monday with only 14% of the registered 26,228,975 voters casting their ballots by midday. 

The IEC chair Glen Mashinini is, however, unconcerned by the morning’s low voter turnout as the process is “progressing well across the country”.  

Mashinini says 99% of the 23,148 voting stations opened on time with a few incidents, including protests and bad weather reported in KwaZulu-Natal, the North West, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, which led to polling stations opening later than scheduled. Rain in Cape Town also resulted in a low turnout of voters at the start of the day. 

“The logistical arrangements as well as the voter management devices are holding well, on the whole. As at 12.30pm over 3.5-million voters had already voted,” he said during a media briefing on Monday.