IEC to blame for delays at voting stations in WC, says provincial electoral head

CAPE TOWN - Western Cape electoral head, Michael Hendrickse, said that last-minute changes to electoral laws impacted on the training of staff. 
 
He apologised to voters for the technical glitches that led to queues snaking around polling stations until midnight on Wednesday night. 
 
Across the country, voter management devices proved to let down the Electoral Commission, raising questions about whether they'd been adequately tested.

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 Hendrickse is taking voter criticism on the chin. 
 
He said that the IEC was squarely to blame for the delays at voting stations in the province. 
 
"Forty-four thousand machines running at the same time, accessing a database, pulling down, needing access, connectivity, etc, so there’s a number of things we definitely need to look at." 
 
Hendrickse said that although this was the second election these devices were being used, additional factors were at play on Wednesday, partly owing to new legislation signed into law just two weeks ago.
 
"This time, given the fact that we also added a third ballot on it, so there’s a lot of new additional functions added to it. So, you have all these things running at the same time." 
 
Hendrickse is predicting higher voter turnout for this province based on more registered voters and Wednesday’s queues.