“Denied my right to vote”
To his dismay this Salt Rock man found that he was not on the voters roll.
A Salt Rock resident was not allowed to vote yesterday, after registering to vote in March.
Damon Hyland (37) originally registered to vote at the Ballito Library but recently moved to Salt Rock. He went to Sizani Primary to make his mark on the ballot but was told that he was not on the voters roll.
A bemused Hyland then went to Ballito Library and was once again told he could not vote.
“My wife got the go ahead and I did not. We registered at the same place at the same time but I was told that I was not on the voter’s roll,” said Hyland.
According to Hyland, the presiding officer contacted the IEC head office, who relayed the same message.
“I now have to wait another five years to vote and I was refused my right to vote because someone messed up on the administration side,” he said.
Hyland’s main concern was that no plan B is in place for these circumstances.
“There is no back-up plan, which does not make sense. You only have one day to vote and that is it. They should consider a system that allows the IEC to override the system so that people can vote.”
“I am disappointed, as they say every vote counts but unfortunately mine was not one of them” he said.
IEC district manager Paul Daniel said that the incident was rare, but similar incidents had happened on voting day.
“This was not a common problem. It is difficult to say what could have caused this as our system is related to the Home Affairs system, so it could have been a problem on either side,” he said.
Did you have any problems on voting day, contact the Courier via email at news@northcoastcourier.co.za.
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