The Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said he is pleased with the execution of the first day of special votes in the National and Provincial Elections.

Special votes took place yesterday and will continue today for qualifying voters. Voting stations for special votes operate from 09:00 to 17:00.

“As of 14:00 [yesterday], an estimated 201 794 voting station visits of special votes were processed in 22 626 service points,” Sheburi said addressing the media at the National Results Operation Centre in Midrand.

He said over the two days of special votes, a total of 624 593 voters will be visited by 62 000 officials from the IEC accompanied by political party agents and observers where they are available.

“The Electoral Commission is happy with the turnout and urges South Africans to continue to go out in their numbers to vote on May 29,” Sheburi added.

He reminded all those who qualified for special votes that they will only be visited at the given address once.

“If the voter is not present at the given address, they will be able to cast their vote at the voting station where they are registered. The commission clarifies that in the instance where a voter has made two transactions, the last will override the first. This is done to protect the integrity of the elections and prevent voters from voting twice,” Sheburi explained.

Problems at stations

Owing to the commission’s good preparations, the majority of voting stations in the Eastern Cape were opened despite protests that were not related to the elections.

Of the 435 voting stations that experienced problems in the morning, only 107 remain closed due to external factors. “The commission continues to work with stakeholders to have them open [today],” he said.

Sheburi encouraged all those who applied to cast a special vote at their voting station to do so during voting station hours.

“Voters are reminded that these are different from the voting hours of 07:00 to 21:00 on Election Day. Voters are reminded to have their identity documents as a requirement for participation.

“After casting votes, the ballots must be inserted in an unmarked envelope which in turn will be inserted in a second envelope with details of the voter. The special voting process is subject to all the security and integrity protocols of normal voting including scrutiny by party agents and observers where present.

“Special votes will be reconciled against the voters’ roll and the list of approved special votes. Additional checks include the use of the double envelope system which allows us to still preserve the secrecy of the voters’ ballot,” Sheburi said.

All special votes collected will be stored securely overnight on May 27 and 28 and will be transported to voting stations on May 29 to be opened, reconciled and added to the ordinary ballots that will be cast tomorrow, before counting begins.

Over 1.6 million South Africans have been approved to vote via special ballots.

With regard to the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, where a group of its supporters allegedly invaded an IEC storage facility and threatened an elections official over the weekend, the commission said it was dealing with the issue seriously.

At a media briefing on Sunday, the commission affirmed its readiness to facilitate the special votes ahead of national Election Day.

The IEC has assured that the administration of special votes will occur in the presence of contestant representatives and observers where possible, although entry into homes will be at the homeowner’s discretion. – SAnews.gov.za