Special voting at Kai !Garib Local Municipality was going ahead on Tuesday despite the ANC applying for an urgent interdict on Monday to prevent the by-election in Ward 2 from taking place.
SPECIAL voting at Kai !Garib Local Municipality was going ahead on Tuesday despite the ANC applying for an urgent interdict on Monday to prevent the by-election in Ward 2 from taking place.
The by-election was scheduled for February 1-2 following the death of the ANC ward councillor before the local government elections took place in November last year.
The ANC alleged that opposition parties had fraudulently registered up to 1,000 voters that did not reside in the ward.
The ANC, EFF and Hope for the Future are contesting the by-elections.
Electoral Commission (IEC) provincial electoral matters manager Elkin Topkin said special voting was proceeding smoothly on Tuesday.
“We have not received any notification regarding interdicting the process and are continuing until we are informed otherwise. We will abide by any court order,” said Topkin.
He added that they had red-flagged 343 questionable electronic registrations that had incorrect addresses.
“Should any of these voters arrive at the voting station they will be called aside to verify their addresses. The electronic system does not reject any voter and often it may be ‘finger trouble’ where the incorrect information or location is selected. We detected some electronic registrations where voters were residing in the Western Cape, North West and KwaZulu-Natal. The commission does not suspect any foul play at this stage. We have processes in place should these errors occur.”
Topkin indicated that it was not necessary to provide proof of address.
“We have runners who can visit the listed address to verify the address and check with neighbours in the area whether they in fact reside there. Should false information be intentionally provided, the voter can be jailed on charges of electoral fraud. Up until now, none of the red-flagged voters have come to cast their votes.”
He stated that should the by-elections be interdicted, the IEC would have to start afresh with a new voters roll, new election drive and set a new date.
ANC provincial secretary Deshi Ngxanga said the matter was still being heard in court.
