There was absolute chaos on Wednesday at two of the voting stations on the Western Seaboard due to the incompetence of IEC officials.
One of the worst cases that I witnessed was at Blouberg Community Hall where voters queued for up to six hours with little to no communication from the IEC officials.
It was left to one of the residents to inform voters what was happening, as the IEC official would not address the people.
There were no separate lines for pensioners or people with babies. Everyone was left to stand in the same line for hours with no updates as to what was happening.
After opening late as the officials had not arrived, at 10am it was decided to change the lines, causing a two hour pause. Then the system was offline and officials were trying to contact the IEC to revert to paper ballots, however, nobody could contact the IEC as the number was constantly engaged.
Of the two scanners on site one was not working and the other one was only working intermittently. Law enforcement and SAPS were called to the scene as the residents of this usually laid-back little seaside village became frustrated with the lack of competence by the IEC.
At the CBC school in Parklands, people were also subjected to waiting for up to six hours to vote.
One voter shared how after waiting in line for five hours, the two people in front of her weren’t registered at that station and, instead of one official taking them aside to deal with them, the entire team stopped to focus on trying to register them, which took half an hour where they didn’t assist anyone else.
At midnight hundreds of voters were still waiting in long queues that snaked down Parklands Main road.
Another voter described how at Bloubergrandt High School voting station, the IEC official who was handing out the ballot papers was asking people whether they just wanted one ballot paper for the national vote.
At Bloubergridge Primary school, Sunningdale Primary, Table View primary and Regent Park, voters praised the IEC officials for their efficiency, which leaves one wondering how - within a few kilometres of each other - yesterday’s voter experiences could be worlds apart.
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