IEC says several issues, mainly logistical, resulted in long voting queues
Commissioner Janet Love said delivery plans not being followed, and navigating through service delivery are some issues that resulted in snaky queues at voting stations on Wednesday.
Voters queue at a voting station in Evaton as the sun sets on 29 May 2024. Picture: Kgomotso Modise/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says voters had to familiarise themselves with the three ballot papers for this year’s election and as a result, the process took longer than usual.
In previous elections, there were only two ballots, a national one for Parliament and another for the provincial legislature.
But now, the third ballot was for the regional seats reserved for each of the regions in the National Assembly.
This year’s election is also the first time that independent candidates were contesting.
Commissioner Janet Love said there were other external issues that affected the voting process.
"There isn’t a single reason, some of them were because of escorts, some of them were because the people whose delivery plans that were located on our system, they didn’t follow those delivery plans. Why? We have to establish that. Some it’s because people were having difficulty in navigating through service delivery issues."