WATCH Elections 2024: It’s all systems go at most Highway voting stations
The delays, which were caused by the system at the Vision Church voting station in Gillitts, have been resolved as the IEC advised that the voting process can continue by using the manual voters' roll.
ALTHOUGH the voting process started smoothly at most stations in the Highway area, there were reports of delays at a few places – one of them being the Vision Church voting station in Gillitts.
Ward 10 councillor Caelee Laing said she is aware of the issue of delays at the Vision Church voting station.
“I did escalate the complaints received and reported by the DA party agents at the station to the IEC regional manager.”
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She said she was advised that delays have been due to the traffic on the system with the high number of voters.
“If there are any issues with the voter management devices, they are to use the manual voters’ roll.”
The IEC in KZN says that at voting stations, the entry of voters can continue manually even if the voter management devices are not functional, even in the offline mode.
“Scratching out voters from the voters’ roll and marking of thumbs are sufficient measures to comply, and, therefore, voting can continue without using the devices. The statistics will be updated once the system is functional.
The Highway Mail visited stations in Westville, New Germany, Kloof and Hillcrest to find everything in order.
The long queues, especially at New Germany Civic Centre, did not deter people’s spirits as they waited patiently to cast their votes.
Also read: Elections 2024: Voting queues build up in first hour at voting stations
One of the voters at the hall said she was happy with everything and that they prioritised pensioners, disabled and frail people.
“I was in and out in no time,” she said.
Another voter at the Kloof Methodist Church, who was voting for the second time, said it is important for people to exercise their right to vote.
“By doing that, we can make a change instead of complaining all the time.”
Warren Kidgell, who made his mark at the Waterfall Library, applauded the procedure,
“We were grouped alphabetically, and my line was not too long. I was pretty surprised – I was done in 20 minutes,” he said.
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