Opposition parties demand investigation

ELECTION NEWS - Opposition parties are demanding an investigation into the question whether the dilemma with the indelible ink during voting had a material effect on the outcome of the 2019 election.

Smaller parties in especially the northern provinces have indicated their indignation, while conversely, several of the smaller parties in the Western Cape have congratulated the electoral commission with a free and fair election.

Not so, says the representative of Cope in the Western Cape, who had a first-hand experience of the inking problem. She says the possibility of people voting more than once will undoubtedly have the connotation that the election process may, in fact, have been a 'free for all'. Several political parties are in discussion about the way forward.

The Western Cape provincial electoral officer, Courtney Sampson says his feedback is that the political parties in the Western Cape experienced the election processes as free and fair. "In the event that problems exist, the Electoral Act is very clear on the remedy available to those who object for whatever reason. Eventually, the courts, not only the Electoral Court may be approached for a final ruling."

The electoral commission, however, has said that it would conduct an audit of results and votes cast in a sample of voting stations to establish whether double voting was indeed a problem. This step follows the arrest of a number of people in KwaZulu/Natal with regards to 'fraudulent incidents' and after several voters took to social media to show how the indelible ink had disappeared within hours after voting.

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