The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) says it is ready to administer next week’s local government elections, with more than 10,000 police officers set to be deployed across the Eastern Cape to safeguard the process.
About 3.6-million registered voters in the province are expected to cast their ballots at 4,979 voting stations between Monday and Wednesday.
Briefing the media in KuGompo City on Friday, IEC electoral operations deputy manager Masindi Mosehana said the commission had introduced measures to reduce queues and improve the processing of voters following criticism over delays during the previous elections.
“Last election, one of the biggest criticisms that we received was around how we processed voters. There were around 85 voting stations across the country, if I'm not mistaken, that closed very late because the queues were being processed slowly.
“So among others, in these voting stations, we have introduced a number of enhancements, including the fact that for the first time, voters are going to go to the voting station knowing their sequence number. So that should eliminate a lot of the bottlenecks that we find at the voters' table.
“We've also increased the number of people that will be processing voters in terms of the various voting centres and streams that will be at voting stations to ensure that South Africans do not spend enough time at the voting station,” Mosehana said.
The IEC has procured 107 tents and 12 mobile voting stations, with venues and operating times for the mobile stations confirmed in consultation with communities.
Mosehana said the commission had received about 420,000 applications for special votes across the country, an unprecedented number.
In the Eastern Cape, about 282,000 voters are expected to cast special votes at voting stations on Monday and Tuesday, while IEC officials will visit close to 127,000 people who have requested home visits.
A total of 105 voting stations will not open for special voting on Monday and Tuesday because no applications were received in those areas.
Mosehana said the commission had deployed sufficient teams to manage the special-voting process.
The IEC was also forced to revisit some ballot papers after the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the ANC in its challenge over the exclusion of 181 candidates from the ballot.
Mosehana said the ruling affected 12 municipalities and eight political parties, whose candidates had since been included.
“We have received all our ballot papers... We have done checks and verifications to confirm that indeed these parties are on the ballots and they will see themselves and their supporters will also see those parties on the ballots on election day,” he said.
He said training had been completed for IEC officials, political parties and other stakeholders, while election materials had been distributed to local offices and satellite storage sites.
The commission will operate 53 results-capturing sites, including three local offices and 20 satellite sites, where party representatives will be able to observe the receipt and capturing of results.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata said more than 10,000 police officers would be deployed across the province, with additional members assigned to voting stations in identified hotspots.
He said the deployment was based on detailed threat assessments and that police had contingency plans for possible incidents.
“We know where the risks are. We know who the instigators are. And we have contingency plans for every identified scenario.
“To strengthen our operational capacity, we have distributed additional vehicles across the province in the current financial year, including new police vans handed over just last week. These are not promises. These are vehicles on the road, at police stations, and in our communities. Our members will be working around the clock to ensure maximum coverage of every corner of our province.
“We have conducted dry runs through the voter registration weekends, and we have refined our plans accordingly. We will act decisively against political violence, intimidation, and unlawful conduct; regardless of which party is involved,” Ncata said.
He said police had also received training on the Electoral Act.
“I call upon every resident of the Eastern Cape: report crime. Report intimidation. Report suspicious activity. The police cannot be everywhere, but an alert and engaged community can be our eyes and ears in every street, every village, and every ward,” he said.
Home Affairs offices will operate from 8am to 6pm on November 2 and 3, and from 7am to 9pm on November 4 to assist voters.