Noordhoek voters hit by ballot delivery delays at Cape Point Vineyards
Printing delays left over 200 voting stations without ballot papers on Monday morning, forcing elderly and vulnerable voters to wait for hours.
Carlo Petersen
Voters outside Athlone Community Centre. Picture: Carlo Peterson/EWN
Carlo Peterson/EWN
Voters in Noordhoek reported a 30-minute delay allegedly due to ballot papers arriving late at the Cape Point Vineyards voting station this morning.
On Tuesday, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Western Cape assured voters it had managed to clear the logistical backlogs that plagued the first two days of special voting.
Printing delays left over 200 voting stations without ballot papers on Monday morning, forcing elderly and vulnerable voters to wait for hours.
The provincial electoral commission has since apologised to affected voters, explaining that the backlog was triggered by a mid-October Constitutional Court ruling.
The order forced the invalidation of 28 million ballots to accommodate late candidate changes, triggering an emergency race against time to print 33 million new ones.
Cape Town’s ballots were at the very tail end of that print run.
Noordhoek resident Louise Louw, who cast her vote this afternoon, said reported delays could prove costly for political parties and taxpayers.
“That of course might have chased a few voters away, but we would also like to know in future who’s going to pay for the double printing of the ballot papers,” she said.
The IEC said the logistical logjam was strictly confined to the metro and had now been fully resolved.