THE IEC says it’s satisfied with the turnout during the special voting weekend despite a number hiccups at some voting stations.
And while things got off to a shaky start, the Commission’s chairperson Glen Mashinini says over 80-percent of those who were expected have been accounted for.
Voting stations opened at 8am on Saturday morning for eligible voters to cast their special vote. A special vote allows a registered voter who cannot travel to their voting station on 1 November to vote earlier because they are either physically infirm, disabled or pregnant, or cannot vote at their voting station on election day due to other reasons.
Applications for special voting closed on October 4 with 1.1 million approved special votes for this election.
The commission also thanked South Africans who registered for and cast special votes in 21 974 voting stations and homes over the past two days.
“As at 16h00 (Sunday), 502 837 of the 602 780 (83%) persons approved to vote by special vote at their voting stations had voted. Similarly, by the conclusion of the day we would have visited every voter who had been approved for a home visit,” said the commission.
The commission also added that there’s still an opportunity to vote on Monday for those who missed the weekend.
“The two days of special votes have afforded the Commission insights that will be used to further refine operations to positively impact on voter experience. The Commission urges all 26.2 million eligible voters to go out and cast their votes tomorrow,” said the commission.
“The network of 23 148 voting stations will open for voting at 07h00 and close at 21h00. It is important to emphasize that eligible voters who are at the voting station at 21h00 will not be turned away.”
The commission further said it was confident that all preparations are in place for free, fair and in the context of Covid-19 safe 2021 Municipal Elections.
“It is satisfied that it has done everything in its power to prepare for these elections, which are highly contested given the number of candidates and contesting parties,” it said.
- Inside Politics
