IEC announces vote audit and arrests following double-voting allegations
The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has announced that it will urgently conduct an audit of votes to ascertain if double voting has occurred.
In a press briefing on Thursday afternoon (9 May), the commission said the audit will cover a statistically representative sample of stations as well as stations where complaints of double-voting were received.
“The final number and selection of the voting station sample for the audit will be determined with the help of expert statisticians. The process was endorsed by political parties in the party liaison committee today,” it said.
“By law, the Electoral Commission has seven days in which to announce the election results and is confident this audit exercise will be completed in time to provide assurance of the integrity of the election results within this period.”
The commission said that four voters in KZN had been arrested in connection with alleged double voting so far.
Investigation into pens
The IEC said that it has also ordered an investigation into the effectiveness of the indelible ink marker pens supplied for the elections.
A number of social media posts on voting day showed that the ink could be easily removed, leading to concerns that the lack of an identifying mark would make it easier for people to double-vote.
The IEC said that the investigation will be performed alongside the CSIR and with the full cooperation and support of the supplier.
“The results capture and verification process continues, and the Electoral Commission gives its assurance to South Africa that it will only announce results where it is 100% confident in the integrity and legitimacy of those results,” it said.
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