Senior citizens at Lapa la Botlhe Age Care Centre in Mahikeng, North West, have not been able to cast their special votes after the centre failed to meet the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) deadline for applications.
The centre’s representative Susan Kereeditse says one of the challenges was that they only have copies of the IDs of the elderly, while by law, people can only vote with their original IDs.
The IEC is holding special votes on Monday and Tuesday.
“They used to bring us forms. It was then agreed that on the 15th the forms would be released. So we were unable to get the forms because of transport challenges. We only remembered on the 16th that the forms were available on the 15th.
But we also wondered why we had to go get them this time around because they normally bring them to us. Then a gentleman from IEC said he would get back to us. He didn’t explain if it would be telephonically or in another way. But till now he has not communicated with us.”
Update on day 1 of Special Votes https://t.co/qJuBNRaKdL
— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) May 27, 2024
‘Pleasant experience’
87-year-old Iris Clack from Modderfontein in Gauteng says she is unsure who registered her for special votes however she is grateful to have voted today away from large crowds.
Clack was called by IEC officials at the Tarentaal Retirement Village in Modderfontein reminding her about her special vote which she was not aware of.
She says her experience was pleasant.
“It went very well. I did ask a lot of questions but I had to be quite sure that I was voting at the right place and everything was stamped and sealed correctly. I didn’t know that I could come today. I didn’t know that I was registered for a special vote because I thought it was just on Wednesday. I don’t know who registered me for a special vote but I did put my name for voting here. I’m glad I wasn’t in a big rush here with a lot of people”
Vote once
Meanwhile, the IEC says it has ensured that no citizen will vote more than once through the use of a special voting application or a Section 24 (A) application. That’s according to Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Shiburi says in the event that a voter applies for a special vote more than once the second transaction will override the initial transaction similarly if a voter applies for a special vote and subsequent votes by section 24 (A).
Section 24 (A) approval overrides the special vote that is granted that is in order to honour the constitutional and lawful requirement that a voter must only vote once in an election.”
2024 Elections | Monitoring special votes with Dr Dale McKinley
