IEC Says It’s Ready For Election Day

Electoral commission chair, Glen Mashinini, has promised that the agency would deliver free and fair elections despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 lockdown this year.

Deadlines were shorter than usual, but he said that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was ready for Monday’s polls.

The electoral commission has officially launched the national results operations centre in Tshwane, where the outcome of Monday’s local government elections will be announced next week.

Most of the registered voters live in Gauteng, with the majority in their thirties.

Forty-three percent of those who registered through the new digital channels launched this year are under the age of 30.

Chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said that these elections had to be organised faster than ever before.

“Ballot papers are central to the determination of the will of the voter. therefore no credible election is possible without an accurate ballot. We have endeavoured to produce ballots in the record shortest possible time. The whole ballot production process was undertaken in 18 days and the last ballots will be delivered to municipalities on Thursday.”

Electoral officials will this weekend pay home visits to more than 57,000 people casting special ballots ahead of voting day on Monday.