Johannesburg - The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has rubbished rumours that voters need to prove they have been vaccinated before being allowed to cast their vote in the upcoming local government elections.
In a Twitter post on Monday, the IEC rubbished rumours that voters would have to produce a vaccination certificate to vote.
“Rumour has it that you need to be vaccinated to vote in the #LGE2021.
“The TRUTH is, you do not need to produce a vaccination certificate or be vaccinated to vote,” the Tweet read.
It also shared an informative poster confirming that voters only need to be South African citizens, be registered to vote and present their South African ID at the voting station.
The IEC top brass has previously told the media they were ready to deliver a successful election as preparations “are well underway” currently.
The IEC also assured that plans were in place to ensure voters and staff were well protected against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, with personal protective equipment and sanitisers readily available.
The IEC previously made a Constitutional Court application to have the local government elections postponed, claiming that it would not be “free and fair” because of the impact of Covid-19.
But their application was dismissed and they were ordered to stage the elections on any day between October 27 and November 1.
The Commission is currently pushing a host of new technological innovations for a new generation of voters in the upcoming elections.
The IEC has about 40 000 new-generation devices which it believes will significantly enhance the speed, accuracy and integrity of the voting processes. On election day, the devices will provide access to a real-time voters’ roll which will allow election officials to detect if any voter has already presented themselves at a voting station to vote.
In addition, the devices will assist the IEC with ballot paper tracking, managing electoral staff attendance registers, and other admin requirements.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
Political Bureau