MPs raise concerns about efficiency of IEC's voter management devices

CAPE TOWN - Members of Parliament (MPs) have raised concerns about the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) voter management devices which have crashed on occasion.

The concerns around the IEC’s app comes after the portfolio committee on Home Affairs paid an oversight visit to the elections body.

READ: IEC welcomes foreign observers to oversee SA's upcoming elections

The committee acknowledged that while the devices are a technological advancement, there should be procedures in case of technological glitches.

The Home Affairs portfolio committee said it is confident in the processes in place to ensure that the 2024 provincial and national elections are free and fair.

This followed an oversight visit by the committee last week.

But committee member and Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Adrian Roos said they had lengthy discussions on the voter management system and concerns around the app.

"We re-emphasised that, and that’s something that would certainly need to be monitored on election. It’s a bit of a concern that the apps are still crashing and so on and so forth, so we raised a concern about that."

He said the IEC should switch to a manual system if the system crashes to prevent delaying the voting process. The committee also stressed the need for continued training and to ensure a seamless process.