On the day that millions cast their votes in the 2024 General Election, some in the Melkbosstrand, Table View, and Milnerton areas were denied the opportunity to vote, leaving them disenfranchised and their voices silenced.
Also read: WIN: A hot 2-night staycation for 2 at The Capital Mirage!
Scores of residents, who stood for hours in long queues, eager to cast their vote, found themselves absent from the voter rolls and denied their right to vote. One such voter is Michelle Matthee from Table View, who is apparently registered to vote in Islamabad, Pakistan, a country she has never visited.
‘I was turned away and denied my constitutional right to vote by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Why?’ Matthee asks.
‘Because apparently, I am registered to vote in Islamabad, Pakistan. A country I have never been to. I have not changed my address and have voted at the same voting station for the last two elections. Despite every attempt to rectify this, and having all the proof that I am me and clearly not in Pakistan, all I got was a half-hearted apology saying there’s nothing they can do. Did someone in Pakistan cast a fraudulent vote under my ID number? Will the objection I duly completed at my voting station get any response?’ Matthee says she is angry and dismayed at the electoral process and questions the lack of rectification.
‘I want to believe that we as the people of South Africa are able to vote for change, but I am angry and dismayed. How many other South Africans were unable to vote today because of something like this? Best case, it’s a system glitch, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was turned away and could not vote,’ she says. She shared a post and her experience on social media and is shocked at the number of people who experienced the same thing.
‘It all just feels very suspect. The new law was passed that you can only vote where you are registered, and then on voting day, so many people were suddenly registered at stations far from where they were previously registered. Some elsewhere in their area, some on the other side of their province, some in other provinces completely, or like me, in another country. This meant that many people could not vote as it was impossible for them to get to where they were suddenly and unexpectedly registered. Was this a system error? Fraud to make voting difficult or impossible? The IEC needs to be held accountable. This was not a free and fair election. How can we even trust the results if we know so many people were denied their constitutional right to vote due to this,’ she says.
Matthee says she submitted an objection which was later rejected.
Several residents also voiced their concerns at being turned away from voting stations for various reasons, including not being on the voters’ roll at a station previously voted at, receiving confirmation of a voting station change but not appearing on that new station’s roll on election day, being told they had already voted when they had not, and first-time voters not appearing on the voters’ roll.
Gerard Cloete says not only were the lines long, but when he finally reached the voting station to vote, he was told he is not registered.
‘I stood for five hours in a line only to be turned away,’ he says. According to other news reports, more South African voters were turned away in this year’s election than in previous years.
The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa said the top two reasons given were ‘voters being at the wrong polling station or district’ and ‘voters not appearing on the voters’ roll.’
The Institute of Election Management Services in Africa said it received reports of voters being found to be registered elsewhere and Section 24A applicants not appearing on the voter’s roll of some stations.
A little over 58% of registered voters cast their ballots, the lowest voter turnout in South Africa’s democratic history.
The IEC said it would investigate what led to the historic low voter turnout in 2024’s elections.
For these general elections, the IEC introduced a new rule stating that voters could only cast their ballot at the voting station they were registered at.
The IEC acknowledged this led to many people being turned away at voting stations. However, deputy chief electoral officer, Masego Sheburi, said this couldn’t be the only reason for the low turnout.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it observed that elections proceeded smoothly, and minor challenges monitored did not affect the overall declaration of the elections as free and fair.
Also read:
Picture: Lefty Shivambu/ Gallo Images