The Electoral Commission’s Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Masego Sheburi, says he is happy with how the first day of special votes went in the National and Provincial Elections.
Special votes started on Monday and will continue on Tuesday for those who qualify. Voting stations for special votes are open from 9 am to 5 pm.
“By 2 pm today, about 201,794 people had visited 22,626 voting stations for special votes,” Sheburi told the media at the National Results Operation Centre (ROC) in Midrand on Monday afternoon.
He said that over the two days of special votes, a total of 624,593 voters will be visited by 62,000 officials from the Electoral Commission, along with political party agents and observers where available.
“The Electoral Commission is happy with the turnout and urges South Africans to continue to go out and vote on 29 May 2024,” Sheburi said.
He reminded everyone who qualifies for special votes that they will only be visited at the given address once.
“If the voter is not at the given address, they can cast their vote at the voting station where they are registered.
“The commission clarifies that if a voter makes two transactions, the last one will override the first. This protects the integrity of the elections and prevents double voting,” Sheburi said.
Thanks to good preparations, most voting stations in the Eastern Cape were opened despite unrelated protests.
Of the 435 voting stations that had problems in the morning, only 107 remained closed due to external factors. “The commission is working with stakeholders to have them open tomorrow,” he said.
Sheburi encouraged everyone who applied to cast a special vote at their voting station to do so between 9 am and 5 pm.
“Remember, these hours are different from the voting hours on Election Day, which are from 7 am to 9 pm. Voters need to bring their identity documents to participate.
“After voting, ballots must be placed in an unmarked envelope, which is then placed in a second envelope with the voter’s details. The special voting process follows the same security and integrity protocols as normal voting, including checks by party agents and observers where present.
“Special votes will be checked against the voters’ roll and the list of approved special votes. We also use a double envelope system to preserve the secrecy of the ballots,” Sheburi said.
All special votes collected will be securely stored overnight on 27 and 28 May and will be taken to voting stations on 29 May. They will be opened, checked, and added to the regular ballots cast on Wednesday before counting begins.
Over 1.6 million South Africans have been approved to vote via special ballots.
Regarding the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, where some supporters allegedly invaded an IEC storage facility and threatened an elections official over the weekend, the commission said it is taking the issue seriously.
At a media briefing on Sunday, the commission confirmed its readiness to handle the special votes before the national Election Day on Wednesday.
The IEC has assured that special votes will be administered in the presence of contestant representatives and observers where possible, although entry into homes will be at the homeowner’s discretion.
