Limpopo IEC official suspended after tampering with ballot box
Three incidents have been reported in Limpopo which has resulted in the IEC having to quarantine those votes.
LIMPOPO – The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed that an official responsible for opening a ballot box at a voting station in Limpopo, has been suspended.
In a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, the IEC confirmed that the incident happened in Botlokwa, which is part of the Molemole Municipality, on November 1.
It is alleged a voter approached the official for assistance, claiming that they made a mistake on their ballot paper. Footage of the incident shows several of the officials taking turns, using a pair of scissors, to cut open the binding on the ballot box. Once the binding was cut an official takes the initiative and opens the lid and digs inside looking for the ‘spoiled’ ballot paper.
“That official is now jobless because of a small mistake which goes against the electoral code of conduct. No ballot may be opened outside the counting stations. The ballot box was quarantined, until such a time the IEC decides what do do with the votes,” said provincial electoral officer Nkaro Mateta.
Mateta added that there were three incidents in Limpopo that required them to quarantine ballot boxes. In two of these, including the one from Molemole, the votes were counted eventually.
In the other incident the compromised ballot box was for special votes and only five people had voted, therefore the IEC decided to send out a team to the homes of those voters and allowed them to vote again.
She explained that the decision to count the votes in Molemole was taken after considering that the ballots themselves were not compromised and the vote would have been lost to the candidate because of one person’s mistake.
“Who knows, maybe one of the candidates would have come back to say that the reason he or she lost is because of the lost vote.”
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