Simone Nare
Although the board is now up and running, the EFF has responded to the crash of the IEC elections results board at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand, Joburg on Friday morning, which left the screen blank and unable to show results as they were coming in.
The EFF described the crash as greatly concerning and called on commission employees at capturing centres to be on high alert.
The party said the collapse that lasted for about two hours at last count highlighted the incompetence and inability of the commission to safeguard the country’s democracy.
“This incompetence was first witnessed on the voting day, where the VMD machines were not fully functional in many voting stations across the country. This resulted in long lines and a
longer voting process which were not properly managed by the institution,” the party said.
It said the collapse in such a historical election was concerning and warranted a thorough investigation to ensure transparency and integrity of the electoral process.
“We call on the IEC to act swiftly in rectifying any technical problems which may arise during this time to maintain public trust in the democratic process,” it said.
The party called on workers at capturing centres to report any suspicious activities as they were the last line of defence.
The IEC said despite the fact that the boards were showing a blank screen, the counting of votes was continuing uninterrupted at the centres around the country.
“The Electoral Commission confirms that it has experienced interruption in the replication of data from its national data centre and the various Results Operation Centres (ROCs).
“The data in the data centre remains intact and the results have not been compromised,” the commission said in a statement.
It added that all services have since been restored and the leaderboard is working normally.
“Result processing continues unaffected,” it said.
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