Ballot shortages and technical glitches disrupt voting as frustrated residents are turned away

Several voting stations experienced technical glitches, while some voters were forced to return home because ballot papers were unavailable at their voting stations.

In one incident in Ward 72, tension flared between the ANC and DA in Orange Grove, where party agents exchanged unpleasant words, forcing the police to intervene.

In Ward 13 in Protea Glen, some voters were turned away and told to go and vote in Naledi because their names did not appear on the system.

Resident Thabo Moloi told the Mail & Guardian that after standing in a queue for a long time, he was informed that his name appeared on the voters' roll at another voting station.

Moloi said that was a surprise to him because, during the registration period, he had visited the same station to ensure that his name was registered there.

"I'm here with my neighbour. We were here to check our status during registration but my name is not here. The IEC staff just told me that my name was appearing at another voting station."

He said the situation was frustrating and that he was considering not voting.

"It's painful and discouraging because now it means I have to go elsewhere, and I'm considering not voting at all."

Another resident, who identified himself as Papa, told the M&G that he had to wait for some time because the computer could not scan his ID.

"They had to call someone else because the scanner was not picking up the IDs. I also had to wait for some time because there were no ballot papers."

Papa, however, said that despite the glitches, the voting process was smooth and the staff were friendly.

In Ward 72, a party agent accused the IEC of poor preparation this year, saying they did not have IEC stickers.

Ballot papers at the Ward 72 voting station ran out. Residents in the queue waited around an hour for additional supplies to arrive.

Councillor candidate Daniel Schay said the IEC ordinarily worked with a 110% allocation of ballot papers. He accused the area manager of bringing too few ballot papers to the voting station.

"We knew there were going to be problems and we had about an hour's headway. The area manager took two hours, so for an hour there was no voting in Ward 72."

Schay said some residents were forced to return home but had promised to come back later to cast their votes.

"This is unacceptable because this is all stuff we know in advance. It's hot today but some people said they would come back later to vote because they are determined to vote.”