A Craigavon woman returned to the voting station on November 4, after a car knocked her to the ground and drove over her while she was waiting in the queue to cast her ballot.

The victim, Chantelle Gribble, said she had arrived early, hoping to vote before the queues grew, when the incident happened. “As we were standing in the queue, someone just drove into me, knocked me to the ground, and then proceeded to drive over me.”
Gribble said fellow voters banged on the car and screamed at the driver to stop, but the vehicle continued moving.

One person managed to capture the car’s registration number, while another helped arrange an ambulance to take Gribble to hospital. Gribble sustained a tyre burn and skin damage to the back of her leg, as well as a fractured bone in her foot. She said she was due to undergo a scan on Monday to determine whether her Achilles tendon had also been injured. Gribble said she planned to open a case after attending to her child and having lunch.

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The incident, however, did not stop her from returning to vote after receiving medical attention. “I didn’t even want the ambulance to take me to the hospital. I wanted them to bring me straight here, but they said they had to take me to the hospital first,” she said. “I was just adamant to vote. It’s time.”

She described voting as a responsibility she takes seriously, but said her decision to participate in the elections was also driven by frustration over service delivery in her neighbourhood. Despite living in what she described as an affluent area, she said residents were not seeing value for the rates they paid. “In this area, especially, there are very high taxpayers, and we don’t see the value for our money, which is very frustrating,” she said.

Gribble pointed to the deteriorating condition of Ronda Road as one example of the infrastructure problems residents wanted addressed.

She said the frustration over service delivery had strengthened her determination to vote, adding that residents wanted to see services and infrastructure functioning as they should. “We know that things can operate like they should, and therefore, I think, yeah, it’s important to vote,” she said.

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Ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe said the incident was particularly concerning because Gribble had been standing at the side of the road when the car struck her. “She was standing in the line, and somebody drove into her and drove over her, fracturing her leg. Yet she still came back to vote, which is absolutely legendary,” he said.

Van der Merwe said Gribble’s husband, who was standing nearby while holding their one-year-old baby, was fortunate not to have been struck. “If somebody can get hit, run over, come back and vote, anybody can get out there and vote,” he said, encouraging residents to participate in the elections.

He also urged voters to remain alert to their surroundings and take precautions while travelling to voting stations. “Please try and stay on the pavements, try and be aware of your surroundings,” he said, adding that residents should take care when crossing roads.

Providing an update on voting at the Crawford voting station, Van der Merwe said the process had initially been slow but was becoming more organised as election officials settled into a rhythm. “The lines are starting to move a lot faster,” he said.

With temperatures rising, he encouraged residents to carry water, wear hats and bring umbrellas while waiting to vote. “Make sure you’ve got some water, you’ve got an umbrella, you’ve got a hat, and get out there and vote,” he said.

Douglasdale police station commander Brigadier Veeshani Arikum said they did not receive any reports regarding the accident as yet.

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