No word yet on expat vote numbers
There was no word yet from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Thursday on how many South Africans had voted overseas.
Just over 6 000 voters were entitled to vote at foreign missions on Wednesday ahead of the April 22 election.
A recent Constitutional Court ruling extended the categories of South Africans living abroad who could vote.
Previously these were limited to categories like government employees and people on holiday who had notified the IEC of their absence from the country, or sports people.
The court extended this to any South Africans living abroad who had already registered to vote. However, they had to inform the IEC of their intentions.
Once a voter at an overseas mission has cast their vote in secret, it is placed in an unmarked envelope and sealed.
These envelopes are then placed in a ballot box which is sealed.
When it is opened on election day, the details on the marked envelope are checked against the voters’ roll and if there is no irregularity, the unmarked envelope is placed in the ballot box.
This ensures the vote is anonymous when the ballot is counted.—Sapa
