It's all systems go for Wednesday’s municipal elections in 4669 voting stations in the Eastern Cape’s 715 wards.
Of the 3.3-million registered voters in the province, 71111 special votes will be cast today and tomorrow, provincial electorate officer Thamsanqa Mraji said. A total of 46881 old and sick people will be visited at home to place their X and 24230 who applied for special votes will visit voting stations between 8am and 5pm today and tomorrow.
After disruptions of voter registration weekends earlier this year by protesters, the electoral commission will up its safety measures. It has become common for protesters to take out their frustrations over service delivery by disrupting voting procedures, and police have often responded with rubber bullets. On Saturday Mraji said police would deploy at least two officers per voting station.
“On special vote days, the SAPS has committed members to patrolling and accompanying election staff during home visits. The IEC, working together with the SAPS on security, is also prioritising voting stations where registration weekend events were challenged,” he said.
East of the Kei river alone, seven voting stations had to close during voter registration in April. Five were in KSD and two in Nyandeni. In Ntabankulu four were made inaccessible by trenches dug by disgruntled villagers.
Mraji said the 4699 presiding officers, 4802 deputy presiding officers, 717 area managers and 18666 election staff had been trained to perform their duties with “diligence, commitment and responsibility”.
He said BCM had the shortest proportional representative (PR) ballot paper as only 12 parties would contest the poll comparted to 19 in Nelson Mandela Bay. A total of 40 political parties and 166 independent candidates would be vying for seats in Eastern Cape councils.
Of the 8493 councillor candidates, 4270 are ward candidates and 4057 PR. Mraji said since the 2000 elections, the number of registered voters in the Eastern Cape had increased by 31.85%.
“The logistics plan from the confirmation to voting station access, voting materials distribution are all in place and in line in terms of the election timetable. The province is ready for municipal elections 2016,” Mraji said.
While party agents and candidates wearing party regalia will not be allowed inside voting stations, voters can wear them. All voting stations will open at 7am and close at 7pm on Wednesday. — ndamasem@dispatch.co.za
E Cape polling plans all locked and loaded – IEC
It's all systems go for Wednesday’s municipal elections in 4669 voting stations in the Eastern Cape’s 715 wards.
Of the 3.3-million registered voters in the province, 71111 special votes will be cast today and tomorrow, provincial electorate officer Thamsanqa Mraji said. A total of 46881 old and sick people will be visited at home to place their X and 24230 who applied for special votes will visit voting stations between 8am and 5pm today and tomorrow.
After disruptions of voter registration weekends earlier this year by protesters, the electoral commission will up its safety measures. It has become common for protesters to take out their frustrations over service delivery by disrupting voting procedures, and police have often responded with rubber bullets. On Saturday Mraji said police would deploy at least two officers per voting station.
“On special vote days, the SAPS has committed members to patrolling and accompanying election staff during home visits. The IEC, working together with the SAPS on security, is also prioritising voting stations where registration weekend events were challenged,” he said.
East of the Kei river alone, seven voting stations had to close during voter registration in April. Five were in KSD and two in Nyandeni. In Ntabankulu four were made inaccessible by trenches dug by disgruntled villagers.
Mraji said the 4699 presiding officers, 4802 deputy presiding officers, 717 area managers and 18666 election staff had been trained to perform their duties with “diligence, commitment and responsibility”.
He said BCM had the shortest proportional representative (PR) ballot paper as only 12 parties would contest the poll comparted to 19 in Nelson Mandela Bay. A total of 40 political parties and 166 independent candidates would be vying for seats in Eastern Cape councils.
Of the 8493 councillor candidates, 4270 are ward candidates and 4057 PR. Mraji said since the 2000 elections, the number of registered voters in the Eastern Cape had increased by 31.85%.
“The logistics plan from the confirmation to voting station access, voting materials distribution are all in place and in line in terms of the election timetable. The province is ready for municipal elections 2016,” Mraji said.
While party agents and candidates wearing party regalia will not be allowed inside voting stations, voters can wear them. All voting stations will open at 7am and close at 7pm on Wednesday. — ndamasem@dispatch.co.za
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