ALL eyes have now turned to the critical process of counting votes in the 2019 National and Provincial Elections.

Voting stations across South Africa closed at 9pm on Wednesday in the sixth democratic elections.

The Electoral Commission (IEC) said it is pleased with what it described as “the smooth progress of voting”, despite isolated incidents where voting operations were adversely affected by inclement weather, community unrest, power outages and some logistical challenges.

In a number of areas, voting after dark was affected by power outages, including in KwaZulu-Natal (specifically Umlazi), Limpopo (Vuwani and Giyani) and Gauteng (parts of Johannesburg).

Read also: Residents frustrated with Glenashley voting station woes

The power outages were as a result of cable theft, weather related outages and other unscheduled interruptions.

The Electoral Commission explained the counting of votes is done within the voting station in front of political party representatives, known as party agents and independent observers.

Once the final results are posted, all materials from the voting station are packed and transported under secure transport to capture sites, where they are logged and stored. By law, all ballots must be securely retained for six months in case of objections.

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