There had been “isolated cases” of voters being denied access
Voting was going almost universally well throughout the country, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said as the morning of polling drew to a close – unexpectedly well, in fact.
“Contrary to what was expected the weather was relatively mild in many parts of the country and has not adversely affected the voting as was anticipated,” IEC chair Glen Mashinini told a status briefing as mid day approached.
With voting much later in the season than usual, and predictions of rain in many parts of the country, there had been concerns that turnout would be affected. But aside from wind blowing over tents overnight there had been no signs of other serious weather-related trouble.
Nor were protests keeping voters away from the polls, not even in Vuwani, the IEC reported. In Limpopo, Mashinini said, there had initially been trouble reaching some voting stations by phone, “but all our stations reported open because other means of communication where used. We also had the good news that in a number of those stations we had queues. Yes, there were stations that were open and [did not see] much activity, but that was early.”
The only areas where the IEC noted unrest or protests affecting voting were in “a few wards” in the Eastern Cape, specifically in Amathole, centred on East London, and Ntabankulu, a rural area between Flagstaff and Mount Frere.
One of the longest interruptions to voting occurred in the tiny town of Strydenberg in the Northern Cape, where a voter died in a voting station. Election officials are not medically qualified, Mashinini said, but “we understand this may have been a death that results from natural causes”.
There had been “isolated cases” of voters being denied access, by either police or IEC officials, to polling stations for wearing party regalia, Mashinini said, but those were being dealt with. While party agents may not wear any party insignia in a voting station, no such restriction applies to voters.
The IEC was primarily concerned with hoax reports of ballot papers not being available and other instances of rumours circulated on social media.