IEC allows voters extra time but rules out second polling day

South Africans queuing at the voting stations across the country were allowed to cast their ballots beyond the 9pm closing time.

This was according to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), which on Wednesday evening gave an update as thousands of prospective voters were still standing in snaking queues late in the evening.

TimesLIVE understands that political parties, in their meeting with the IEC on Wednesday, raised concerns about the possibility of people being sent packing before casting their ballots.

There was a proposal to look into officially extending the deadline beyond 9pm and even possibly having a second day of voting.

However, the IEC and the political parties are said to have agreed that there was no need to extend to another day. This was because the IEC committed to the parties that anyone who was in a queue at 9pm would be allowed to vote.

The voting station would remain open until everyone had been processed.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission had never considered having a two-day election.

“We want to assist everybody in the queue [at 9pm]. We have no plan for a second day of voting, we’ve never entertained such a plan. So voting will happen until it concludes and until everybody in a queue is given an opportunity to vote,” said Mamabolo.

He said that it was now evident that the voter turnout would surpass that of the 2019 national and provincial elections, which was 66%.

“Evidently we are in for a higher turnout than we had in 2019 which is why it is the single intention of the commission at this point to ensure that every voter in a queue is given an opportunity to record their rights,” he said.

“We are committed to that, we’ve made adjustments to the process, we’ve placed additional resources to ensure that everyone does get an opportunity to cast their vote. Until whenever it takes.”

TimesLIVE