IEC says voting going well so far

Electoral Commission’s (IEC) Deputy CEO, Masego Sheburi, says voting is proceeding well across the country.

Sheburi says 98% of the 23 696 voting stations had opened by 7am on Wednesday.

Briefing the media at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand, Sheburi said the use of handheld barcode scanners attached to voter management devices has improved the speed at which voters are processed at voting stations.

However, he said a few voting stations in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga opened at around 9am due to localised protests and inclement weather.

He confirmed that all voting stations were operational by 9am.

Sheburi added that the voter management devices are proving to be the mainstay of the registration process and the elections.

“To illustrate its performance, by 10 o’clock, our preliminary indications are that 3.5 million voters had already voted.”

Buhle Sibanyoni