Voting was delayed in Sterkspruit this morning after an Economic Freedom Front (EFF) agent found a stuffed and unsealed ballot boxes at a voting station.
Voters had to wait for 30 minutes outside a Sterkspruit voting station after EFF party agent Xolile Mashaba found the ballot boxes. Mashaba said he was "shocked" by the find.
"I came here early this morning, when I arrived I saw the ballot boxes with papers already inside. When I asked the ANC agents about it they said the boxes had special votes from Monday and Tuesday. That is not true."
It was later discovered that the ballot boxes were kept overnight by an IEC presiding officer (PO).
EFF party agent Sabelo Xhotyeni said: "We want the IEC to explain how this happened. The PO claims its special votes, but yesterday the ballot boxes should have been sealed and stored until counting."
Mashaba added: "This shows that the elections are not free and fair."
An ANC deployee at the station said there was nothing sinister about the found ballot boxes.
Provincial electoral officer Thamsanqa Mraji said, " Ekuzoleni voting station in Sterkspruit there was a ballot box filled with ballot papers already this morning when voting started.
That ballot is a special votes ballot box which were cast on May 5 and 6.
In terms of the electoral act, that ballot box must be taken to the voting station and ballot papers from that box must be integrated.
The intergration process will be done in the presence of party agents.
"Our investigation found that the Presiding Officer was still within the law because the ballot box is taken (only yesterday) to the voting station. The ballot papers are still inside two envelope as is the practice with special votes."
The IEC did not return calls for comment before publication.
Stuffed ballot boxes found in Sterkspruit, delays voting
Voters had to wait for 30 minutes outside a Sterkspruit voting station after EFF party agent Xolile Mashaba found the ballot boxes. Mashaba said he was "shocked" by the find.
"I came here early this morning, when I arrived I saw the ballot boxes with papers already inside. When I asked the ANC agents about it they said the boxes had special votes from Monday and Tuesday. That is not true."
It was later discovered that the ballot boxes were kept overnight by an IEC presiding officer (PO).
EFF party agent Sabelo Xhotyeni said: "We want the IEC to explain how this happened. The PO claims its special votes, but yesterday the ballot boxes should have been sealed and stored until counting."
Mashaba added: "This shows that the elections are not free and fair."
An ANC deployee at the station said there was nothing sinister about the found ballot boxes.
Provincial electoral officer Thamsanqa Mraji said, " Ekuzoleni voting station in Sterkspruit there was a ballot box filled with ballot papers already this morning when voting started.
That ballot is a special votes ballot box which were cast on May 5 and 6.
In terms of the electoral act, that ballot box must be taken to the voting station and ballot papers from that box must be integrated.
The intergration process will be done in the presence of party agents.
"Our investigation found that the Presiding Officer was still within the law because the ballot box is taken (only yesterday) to the voting station. The ballot papers are still inside two envelope as is the practice with special votes."
The IEC did not return calls for comment before publication.
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