South Africa’s (SA) Electoral Commission (IEC) has again reminded voters of the rules at voting stations ahead of tomorrow’s Local Government Elections.
Speaking at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Shiburi said taking photographs of marked ballot papers is strictly prohibited.
Voters have also been urged to mark their ballot papers in private and follow the instructions of election officials.
Shiburi was responding to concerns about the positioning and privacy of voting booths.
“The instruction to presiding officers is that the voting booths should be located in what we call an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) position the same way that you use an ATM. You obscure the keypad in this instance the ballot paper with your body so somebody standing behind won’t be able to see in the ballot that is critical to balance the right to vote in secrecy as well as inducement of voters being induced to make a mark, take a picture, pass it over to somebody in exchange for something in return.”
–SABC–
